Bermuda, US Treasury Finish FACTA Negotiation
Today [Aug 4] the Minister of Finance Bob Richards announced that Bermuda and the US Treasury have completed negotiations for the US FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement [IGA] Model 2.
Minister Richards said the Ministry’s Treaty Unit had included a number of Bermuda industry stakeholders in the negotiating team to assist with the negotiations.
Minister Richards stated: “I express my and this Government’s gratitude to the members of the Bermuda FATCA Committee and especially those industry persons who donated their time to serve on our negotiating team, in particular the three individuals who travelled to Washington DC for the negotiations at their own expense and personal sacrifice of their time.
“Your service to your country has been duly noted. I refer to Bermudian Mr. Mike Murphy a respected retired expert on the US tax code, Mr. Lyndon Quinn tax expert at HSBC Bank Bermuda, and a leading corporate lawyer managing partner of Appleby Bermudian Ms. Kiernan Bell.
“I also thank Mr. Alan Granwell of DLA Piper LLP (US) for his legal advice on US tax law , and the rest of the members on the Bermuda negotiating team who were unable to travel to Washington DC but who provided invaluable support and they are Shakira J. Dill Senior Crown Counsel for the Bermuda Attorney-General Ministry of Legal Affairs, and industry members Charles Thresh of KPMG, Paul.W.Eldridge of PWC, Colm Homan of PWC and James Berry of KPMG.”
The Bermuda negotiation team was led by Ministry of Finance Assistant Financial Secretary Mr. Wayne Brown assisted by Ministry of Finance Acting Treaty Advisor Mr. Dennis Simons.
Minister Richards noted he received the following statement from a senior US Treasury official:
U.S. Treasury official Robert Stack said: “We welcome the conclusion of negotiations with Bermuda on a Model 2 Intergovernmental Agreement to implement FATCA and join our efforts to curtail tax evasion. We are particularly pleased to build upon our decades-old Tax Information Exchange Agreement relationship with Bermuda and the recent Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.
“We appreciate Bermuda’s role as a leader in global tax transparency as well as their role serving alongside the U.S. on the Steering Group of the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. The text of the initialed agreement will be made public after it is signed.”
In response, Minister Richards stated “Now that the IGA had been initialed by Bermuda and the US I wish to sign it as soon as possible. It will be sent to the FCO in London to give their sign off as required under the UK Letter of Entrustment to Bermuda dated 15th July 2010 for tax information related matters and I am confident the FCO will move quickly so that our financial institutions in Bermuda are not disadvantaged during the US FATCA registration process”.
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Sounds good. Many thanks to all involved.
Hopefully, during the next US election, Bermuda will not be the whipping boy/poster child for everything shady that happens offshore.
I think you have an over inflated view of what anyone outside of Bermuda thinks of Bermuda.
Obviously you didn’t watch the run up to the last two elections…
Actually lets go back at least the last 4 elections from what I remember.
What a dreamer.
watch this here, then talk to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkAn3VIe1yQ