The United States and the United Kingdom sign the first bilateral FATCA intergovernmental agreement

September 2012
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The United States and the United Kingdom sign the first bilateral FATCA intergovernmental agreement

At a glance

The US Treasury Department and UK's HM Treasury announce signing of the first intergovernmental agreement under FATCA which the UK institutions and products that present a low risk of US tax evasion, making them exempt from FATCA compliance requirements.

The United States (US) Department of the Treasury and United Kingdom's (UK's) HM Treasury on September 14 announced the signing of the first intergovernmental agreement (the US-UK IGA) under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). As anticipated, the agreement specifically identifies the UK institutions and products that are seen as presenting a low risk of being used to evade US tax and, therefore will be effectively exempt from FATCA requirements.

The US-UK IGA closely follows the Model Agreement issued in July 2012 by the governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US. See Global IRW Newsbrief: Treasury releases model intergovernmental agreement for implementing FATCA for more information on the Model Agreement.