The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Cabinet will decide by next week how the Bahamas will comply with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), with the financial services industry preferring the Model One Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA).

Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, told Tribune Business he received the draft FATCA paper that will be presented to his colleagues in the Christie administration’s Cabinet on Friday, describing it as “very comprehensive due to the importance of the issue”.

While the final decision on how the Bahamas will comply rests with Cabinet, Mr Pinder said the Bahamian financial services sector had indicated a preference for the first of the two IGA models.

“The consensus of the industry appears to be a Model One, but ultimately it’s up to the Cabinet to decide,” Mr Pinder told Tribune Business.

“I think the view from the industry was that some of the exemptions we obtained, particularly with respect to private trust companies and funds, are found in Model One only, in the annexes.

“And the protection of the Government being the liaison between the industry and the US Treasury, I think the industry felt more comfortable with that type of reporting structure. It was very important that they have that type of jurisdictional oversight from the Government level.”

Emphasising that the whole world had to deal with FATCA, Mr Pinder said he felt the Bahamas was in a much better position to cope with its reporting and compliance demands than it was in February this year.

He added that the Bahamas was more advanced than other Caribbean nations on the issue, and would be aided by its strong cadre of compliance officers.