FATCA stands for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. It is a law enacted in the United States of America (U.S.) and is aimed at addressing perceived tax abuse by U.S. Persons through the use of accounts maintained with Foreign Financial Institutions outside the U.S.

In compliance with UAE Central Bank requirements, NBQ will implement and comply with FATCA, including all its branches and subsidiaries.

No. All Banks and Financial Institutions in the UAE will be affected by FATCA. However, each financial institution will have its own approach for implementing FATCA.

The effective date of FATCA is July 1st 2014.

FATCA will impact individual customers who exhibit any one of the indicia of U.S. status, and certain business customers with U.S. owners. Such customers will be required to provide additional information/documentation to confirm their FATCA status.

NBQ may request you to submit a self-certification by completing one of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) withholding certificates or similar forms to confirm whether or not you are a Specified U.S. Person, and to confirm if there are any U.S. Substantial Owners for business customers.

NBQ may also request to view and submit copy of your passport(s) and/or other documents as mentioned in point 16 below.

You may find it on the IRS website www.irs.gov. The forms can also be found at NBQ branches.

For further information on FATCA, please visit: www.irs.gov/FATCA.

If an NBQ customer has U.S. indicia, see item 13 below, and fails to confirm its U.S. status by providing a self-certification, the account will be considered as a Reportable Account, and as such information related to such account may be reported to the UAE Central Bank, or to any other local tax authority as mandated by the UAE Central Bank.

Additionally, NBQ may refuse to open new accounts and may restrict the products and services offered to customers who choose not to provide the required documents.

Customers are expected to provide updated personal information and account details to NBQ as and when there is a change to this information.

In addition, customers may be expected to re self-certify their FATCA status periodically. E.g. every three years.

The account information reported to the local authority will include but will not be limited to: Name, Address, U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number, Account number, Account balance/Value, details on certain payments made to such accounts and details on substantial U.S. owners for entities.

No, FATCA does not replace the existing US tax rules but adds to them. It is recommended you contact a professional tax adviser for more information.

The following criteria are considered U.S. indicia for individual customers:

• US citizenship (passport or green card holder) or U.S. residency
• US place of birth
• US mailing or residence address (including P.O. Box)
• US telephone number (residence or mobile)
• Standing instruction to transfer funds to an account domiciled in the US.
• Power of attorney or signatory authority granted to a person with a US address.
• An ‘in care of’ or ‘hold mail’ address that is the sole address for the account holder as per NBQ’s records.

Customers having any one of the above listed indicia will be required to provide additional information and/or documentation to confirm their U.S. status.

If you don’t have any U.S. Indicia, FATCA will have no impact on your relationship with NBQ; however, we may still request you to confirm your non-U.S. status.

If you have any one of the U.S. indicia, you will be asked to provide us with additional information/ documentation, to confirm your U.S. status. NBQ may also be required to report information on your account to the relevant UAE authorities as discussed above at point 11.

A government issued identification document, in addition to a Certificate of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status.

Balances of such accounts will be in scope for FATCA reporting, however personal information related to the U.S. person ONLY will be reported.

Yes the document will need to be submitted in original.

Not necessarily, the definition of a U.S person is based on the account holder’s information, rather than the type of account that is held.

Yes, please refer to the “What are the indicia of U.S. status for individuals” for further information.

Generally, if you were born in the U.S., you are considered a U.S. person, unless you have renounced your U.S. citizenship, and obtained a Certificate of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status.

No, FATCA may also impact certain Non U.S. entities with U.S. Substantial Owners.

You need to confirm your U.S. status by providing certain information. This information can be provided by completing the related form. Additionally, in some instances an additional IRS form may be required to declare U.S. owners.

If you are unable to select any of the classifications, you should seek advice from a tax professional.