OREANDA-NEWS. February 09, 2016. 2015 marks a turning point in the FATCA timeline: for the first time, Financial Foreign Institutions (FFIs) faced the challenge of FATCA reporting dealing with both the IRS (FATCA final regulations scheme) as well as other foreign tax authorities (IGA models 1 and 2). Against this background, clients using BearingPoint’s FiTAX reporting solution have met the reporting requirements of FATCA and its Inter-Governmental Agreements (IGAs): Between March and August 2015, more than 2,000 financial institutions in 45 countries using FiTAX provided financial information related to their US clients to the local tax authorities and directly to the IRS. Thanks to the flexibility of FiTAX, some Financial Institutions also decided to provide customized reports to their clients informing them about the data reported to tax authorities.

According to Xavier Lambillotte, IT Project Director at Societe Generale, the promptness in implementing FiTAX FATCA was the key to success:

BearingPoint teams (technical and functional) were very active and widely involved in all stages of the FATCA project. Their ability to work and act quickly has been essential for the success of the project and for staying in line with the complex and ever-changing regulation.

Xavier Lambillotte, IT Project Director at Societe Generale

Coping with changes is a key point in FATCA matters:

One of the main challenges faced by financial institutions is to stay up to date with the ever-changing reporting requirements imposed by tax authorities, which frequently request modifications. Monitoring and implementing changes both punctually and reliably is thus increasingly difficult for financial institutions. Therefore, financial institutions benefited from working with BearingPoint who kept FiTAX in line with the changing requirements.

Ronald Frey, Partner at BearingPoint

BearingPoint also launched the development of two new FiTAX modules in 2015:

  • FiTAX CRS: to cover the reporting requirements in accordance with OECD specifications for the Automatic Exchange of Information
  • FiTAX UK FATCA: to cover the reporting needs required under UK CDOT agreements, including the Alternative Reporting Regime (ARR) for UK Resident Non Domiciled Individuals (RNDs).

The FiTAX solution

Created in 2001, FiTAX enables financial institutions to automate the regulatory reporting processes and to report for many countries from a single and centralized platform for QI, EUSD, FATCA, UK FATCA and CRS. Each module is independent, but in order to ease the implementation, all the reporting modules can share the same user interface (Helios), the same IT infrastructure, the same access rights management and the same data.

BearingPoint's FiTAX is scalable to serve global financial institutions as well as local financial institutions and provides a range of modules focusing on tax regulatory law:

  • FiTAX QI: IRS reporting for Qualified Intermediaries. Chapter 3.
  • FiTAX Recon: QI data reconciliation with custodians.
  • FiTAX EU: EUSD reporting to foreign tax authorities.
  • FiTAX FATCA: IRS reporting for FFIs. Chapter 4.
  • FiTAX CRS: OECD reporting for the Automatic Exchange of Information
  • FiTAX UK FATCA: CDOT agreements reporting, and Alternative Reporting Regime (ARR)

About BearingPoint

BearingPoint consultants understand that the world of business changes constantly and that the resulting complexities demand intelligent and adaptive solutions. Our clients, whether in commercial or financial industries or in government, experience real results when they work with us. We combine industry, operational and technology skills with relevant proprietary and other assets in order to tailor solutions for each client’s individual challenges. This adaptive approach is at the heart of our culture and has led to long-standing relationships with many of the world’s leading companies and organizations. Our global consulting network of 9,700 people serves clients in more than 70 countries and engages with them for measurable results and long-lasting success.