FATCA Expanded Affiliated Group (EAGs) and the GIIN list

3,778 Lead Entities of EAGs among the approximately 88,000 FFI registrations from 250 countries.  Haydon Perryman, FATCA Compliance expert of Strevus, and I are undertaking an analysis of this July 1^st FATCA FFI list release by country and by IGA, and now by EAG.  Haydon has put together the below chart based upon the excel formulae he created.  Check out Haydon Perryman’s FATCA blog at http://haydonperryman.wordpress.com/

FATCA EAG Definition

The FFI and its branches and affiliates are defined as an “expanded affiliated group” (“EAG”).  An entity is a part of an EAG if it is affiliated with a common parent that directly or indirectly owns over 50% of the stock by vote and value of such corporation, or in the case of a partnership or non-corporate entity, owns over 50% by value of the beneficial interest of such partnership or non-corporate entity.[1]

Subject to certain phase-in provisions regarding “Limited Branches” and “Limited Affiliates, discussed below, each FFI that is a member of an EAG must obtain the status of either a PFFI or RDCFFI before any of the other group members are able to obtain the benefit of either  such status.  Said another way, one bad apple poisons the barrel, and leads to FATCA withholding for all.

Except to the extent that the rules allowing limited branches and limited affiliates apply (described below the chart), each member of an EAG (including all of its branches, units, offices, and divisions) must conduct due diligence on its accounts, enact FATCA policies and procedures, abide by the terms of the FFI-agreement, and close U.S. accounts if the holder fails to provide required disclosure and reporting information.

	Model 1A IGA	Model 1B IGA	Model 2 IGA	No IGA	US	Grand Total
Andorra				4		4
Angola				2		2
Anguilla				3		3
Antigua and Barbuda	1					1
Argentina				17		17
Armenia			2			2
Aruba				1		1
Australia	52					52
Austria			71			71
Bahamas	23					23
Bahrain	27					27
Bangladesh				22		22
Barbados	7					7
Belarus	1					1
Belgium	12					12
Belize				5		5
Benin				1		1
Bermuda			103			103
Bolivia, Plurinational State Of				3		3
Botswana				3		3
Brazil	51					51
Brunei Darussalam				2		2
Bulgaria	4					4
Cambodia				2		2
Canada	92					92
Cayman Islands		813				813
Chile			26			26
China	3					3
Colombia	7					7
Cook Islands				36		36
Costa Rica	15					15
Croatia	1					1
Curacao	13					13
Cyprus	12					12
Czech Republic	3					3
Denmark	10					10
Djibouti				1		1
Dominica	1					1
Dominican Republic	2					2
Ecuador				4		4
Egypt				12		12
El Salvador				4		4
Finland	13					13
France	106					106
Georgia	2					2
Germany	65					65
Ghana				4		4
Gibraltar	1					1
Greece				12		12
Guatemala				10		10
Guernsey	98					98
Guyana	2					2
Haiti	1					1
Honduras	6					6
Hong Kong			77			77
Hungary	4					4
Iceland				1		1
India	1					1
Indonesia	9					9
Iraq			3			3
Ireland	37					37
Isle of Man	16					16
Israel	24					24
Italy	33					33
Jamaica	6					6
Japan			167			167
Jersey	92					92
Jordan				10		10
Kazakhstan				9		9
Kenya				11		11
Korea, Republic of	21					21
Kuwait	15					15
Latvia	4					4
Lebanon				18		18
Libya				2		2
Liechtenstein	11					11
Luxembourg	166					166
Macao				2		2
Malawi				1		1
Malaysia	29					29
Malta	19					19
Marshall Islands				3		3
Mauritius	16					16
Mexico	14					14
Monaco				1		1
Mongolia				3		3
Morocco				10		10
Mozambique				1		1
Namibia				4		4
Netherlands	62					62
New Zealand	12					12
Nicaragua			3			3
Nigeria				12		12
Norway	15					15
Oman				3		3
Pakistan				14		14
Panama	32					32
Papua New Guinea				1		1
Peru	8					8
Philippines				15		15
Poland	12					12
Portugal	14					14
Qatar	8					8
Romania	4					4
Russian Federation				42		42
Saint Kitts and Nevis	4					4
Saint Lucia	1					1
Saint Vincent and The Grenadines	2					2
San Marino			5			5
Saudi Arabia	1					1
Serbia	1					1
Seychelles	1					1
Sierra Leone				1		1
Singapore	17					17
Slovenia	3					3
South Africa	16					16
Spain	41					41
Sri Lanka				3		3
Sweden	20					20
Switzerland			157			157
Taiwan			41			41
Tajikistan				1		1
Tanzania, United Republic Of				1		1
Thailand	22					22
Trinidad and Tobago				7		7
Turkey	11					11
Uganda				1		1
Ukraine	3					3
United Arab Emirates	14					14
United Kingdom	290					290
United States					101	101
Uruguay				7		7
Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic Of				4		4
Viet Nam				21		21
Virgin Islands (British)	85					85
WEST BANK AND GAZA				1		1
Yemen				3		3
Zambia				1		1
Grand Total	1847	813	655	362	101	3778

Limited Branches and Affiliates Exceptions Under Regs

A FFI is, however, allowed to be a PFFI even if one or more of its branches cannot satisfy all of the requirements of an FFI-agreement under important exceptions to the general rule regarding “limited branch” and “limited FFI affiliates”.

An FFI is permitted to obtain “participating FFI” status if one or more of its branches are non-compliant under the “limited branch” exception. The limited branch exception applies to those FFIs that are in a jurisdiction that has applicable law that prohibits the FFI from reporting, closing, or transferring U.S. accounts, or withholding, closing, blocking, or transferring recalcitrant or nonparticipating FFI accounts. In such case, the limited branch is treated as a “nonparticipating FFI” even though it is an affiliated branch of the “participating FFI.” The other branches with “participating FFI” status must withhold on payments to the limited branch. The limited branch must not open U.S. accounts and must identify itself as a “nonparticipating FFI” to withholding agents.

The exception to the EAG requirements for “limited FFI” affiliates is similar to the regulatory scheme for limited branches. Under the relevant transition rule, a “participating FFI” may be permitted to have an affiliated FFI that is not compliant with FATCA until December 31, 2015 provided that such affiliates are separately identified as a nonparticipating FFI and the PFFI agrees to withhold on payments it makes to, or receives on behalf of, that branch or affiliate and agrees to report (or provide sufficient information to its U.S. withholding agents to allow them to report) payments made to these limited branches and affiliates as required on Forms 8966 or 1042/1042-S.

A Reporting Model IGA FFI may continue to treat branches and affiliates as compliant under the limited branch and limited FFI exceptions even after the expiration of the transitional rule, provided that the branch or affiliate is still unable to comply with FATCA due to restrictions under local law and the Reporting Model FFI continues to comply with its obligations under the IGA with respect to such limited branches or affiliates.

Read a detailed analysis of the EAG with many examples in the LexisNexis® Guide to FATCA Compliance (2^nd Edition) comprises 34 Chapters by 50 industry experts grouped in three parts: compliance program (Chapters 1–4), analysis of FATCA regulations (Chapters 5–16) and analysis of Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs) and local law compliance challenges (Chapters 17–34), including intergovernmental agreements as well as the OECD’s TRACE initiative for global automatic information exchange protocols and systems.