Introduction to FATCA for SPVs

FATCA – otherwise known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – is one of those pieces of U.S. legislation that manages to create extra work for just about everyone, everywhere, whether they like it or not.

Enacted in 2010, FATCA aims to prevent U.S. taxpayers from hiding assets offshore. In doing so, it imposes a raft of reporting obligations on non-U.S. financial institutions – a category that often captures the humble special purpose vehicle ("SPV"), no matter how small or harmless it might feel.