Being a Financial Institution under FATCA & CRS
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the automatic exchange of information (AEI / CRS) require financial institutions (Foreign Financial Institution or Financial Institution) to identify their account holders. This identification requirement also applies to investment entities such as offshore companies and trusts, which were qualified as financial institutions. The latter are responsible for implementing CRS and FATCA obligations. These obligations may be performed by the financial institution entity (FFI or FI) itself, outsourced to a Sponsor or an external service provider.
Substantial obligations
If these obligations are delegated to Geneva Compliance Group, our company will review the entity's beneficial owners to determine their US / non-US character and tax residence. Once the onboarding of the entity is completed, Geneva Compliance Group will be able to perform a mapping, i.e. determine the specific obligations according to the country of incorporation of the entity as well as the jurisdiction of residence of the beneficiaries. This mapping will be carried out each year in order to monitor regulatory developments as well as the updating of agreements activated between jurisdictions as part of the automatic exchange of information. If it is found that a FATCA or CRS declaration is necessary, because one of the beneficiaries is a US Person or is the subject of an EAR declaration, then Geneva compliance Group will ask the contact person to provide it with the relevant information to make such an announcement. Once the data has been collected, it will be formatted and even encrypted if the jurisdiction in question so requires. Similarly, the entity may need to register on a FATCA and/or CRS portal in its jurisdiction of incorporation. Geneva Compliance Group (GCG) offers financial institutions a FATCA sponsorship service that allows them to benefit from the status of Sponsored closely held investment vehicle. GCG acting as Sponsor provides its GIIN number, conducts due diligence of beneficiary and controlling individuals, and undertakes tax reporting (if applicable).
Our service
Our service therefore allows the entity to obtain a GIIN number without having to register with the IRS. This service is the subject of a sponsorship contract between Geneva Compliance Group SA and the entity requiring a GIIN number. As part of this same service, GCG acts as a Service Provider to fulfil the EAR obligations on behalf of the FI entity. This service includes due diligence, monitoring of updates of activated EAR agreements (Mapping), registration with tax authorities, formatting and transmission of data to the relevant tax authorities.
Security
Geneva Compliance Group uses a state of the art IT solution constructed on an ISO 27001 compliant infrastructure along with strong authentication and encrypted communication.
