The US has announced that the agreements signed by foreign countries with the US in respect of the implementation of the FATCA legislation will be regarded as in effect until the end of 2014.

The agreements are intended to ease compliance by financial entities in foreign countries with the provisions of the FATCA legislation. FATCA aims to make sure that US citizens are disclosing to the IRS the income arising from foreign financial institutions (FFIs). This affects situations where agreement in substance is arrived at before July 2014 and the other party to the accord is willing for the content to be disclosed. Following the end of 2014 only agreements that have already been signed will be regarded as in effect. To help smooth the way for the implementation of FATCA in July 2014 foreign financial institutions are being given ten further days to register and be listed on the IRS list of FFIs.