Thomson Reuters Launches FATCA Compliance Solution
Combined market leading content and technology reduces regulatory burden for firms
LONDON, 07 January, 2013 – Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent
information for businesses and professionals, today announced the launch of a solution to help
institutions fulfil and comply with their obligations under the forthcoming US Foreign Account Tax
Compliance Act (FATCA). Supported with the full power of Thomson Reuters content and solutions
assets from its Governance, Risk & Compliance, and Tax & Accounting businesses Thomson
Reuters for FATCA Solution, brings together market leading technology already widely used by
organizations around the world to solve issues with regulatory compliance, tax documentation and
tax reporting. It will enable organisations to identify, maintain and validate their customer records to
assist in FATCA compliance.
It is estimated that tax avoidance by US citizens and entities using offshore bank accounts and
other vehicles held at foreign financial institutions (FFIs) is costing the US government around $500
billion a year. Under FATCA rules, which become effective on 1 January 2013, all FFIs will be
required to collect, manage and report all information that could reasonably point to individual’s
liability for US taxation to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – a process estimated to cost foreign
banks, with more than 25 million accounts, at least US$250 million (US$10 per account) to
implement, according to the European Banking Federation and the Institute of International
Bankers.
“The real costs for FATCA compliance, on an individual firm basis, will vary based on the state of
the client account data in question and the technology and systems framework in place to store that
data,” said Virginie O’Shea, analyst, Aite Group. “Those with a more robust legal entity or client data
management framework or anti-money laundering (AML), or Know Your Customer (KYC)
assessment scheme in place are likely to be better positioned to tackle the challenge.”
The impact of FATCA will be widely felt across the financial industry with banks, investment funds,
insurance companies, mutual funds, broker-dealers, custodians, intermediaries, and private equity
firms all having to comply. FATCA places significant reporting requirements on firms to identify US
account holders. This will create significant operational and systemic pain points, particularly around
on-boarding, classifying and documenting new clients, and in gathering sensitive data from a variety
of structured and unstructured sources.
Thomson Reuters for FATCA Solution comprises modules for On-Boarding, featuring US indicia
search; Self-Assessment, featuring W-8 and W-9 form preparation and collection; and Tax
Information Reporting, featuring forms 1042, 1042S and 1099. The solution also features
configurable regulatory and management reporting. It is designed to integrate easily with
organisations existing processes and technology and is offered as an installed or hosted solution.
“FATCA compliance will require a multi-disciplinary approach that will touch many points across an
organization,” said Laurence Kiddle, commercial director, FATCA, Thomson Reuters. “Thomson
Reuters has brought together a number of leading tried and tested technologies, spanning
governance, risk, compliance, tax and accounting to enable compliance with this new direction in
taxation regulation. This approach makes us uniquely placed to provide a full, and modular, solution
that can help institutions fulfil and comply with the obligations they are under and supports every
stage of the challenges they will face as a result of FATCA.”
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We
combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers
in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets,
powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations
in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs approximately 60,000 people and operates in
over 100 countries. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For
more information, go to: http://thomsonreuters.com
CONTACTS
Alan Duerden
PR Director, GRC & Marketplaces
+44 20 7542 0561
+44 7825282483
alan.duerden@thomsonreuters.com
Tina Allen
PR Manager, Tax & Accounting
+ 44 207 375 6814
+44 7766 922022
tina.allen@thomsonreuters.com