Information & Ethics committee  As well, on the Canada Revenue Agency website, there is a special section on FATCA and everything that is involved.

Information & Ethics committee  As I mentioned a little earlier, Canada had to come to an agreement on FATCA. We had to sign an agreement with the United States. The problem was the process in the House. There should have been open and transparent discussions with all parliamentarians.

Information & Ethics committee  Under the intergovernmental agreement, have any Canadian institutions failed to comply with the IGA, the intergovernmental agreement, to date and been subject to the 30% withholding tax from FATCA? Have there have been instances where there has been failure to comply?

Information & Ethics committee  I would like to emphasize that FATCA is an American act and more than 100 countries have to comply with it in terms of Americans with dual citizenship, wherever they are in the world. As far as constitutionality is concerned, all agreements have been and are vetted by the Department of Justice.

Information & Ethics committee  We conduct what's called a threat and risk assessment, which is a very technical information technology-driven document that looks at the specific IT systems encryption protocols that are in place from an information technology perspective. That was conducted specific to the information we are exchanging under FATCA. In addition, there's something called the global forum on information exchange. It's a global network of over 100 countries that focuses on exchange of information and also the protection of the privacy rights of the people whose information is being exchanged.

Information & Ethics committee  If the process had involved all parliamentarians, we would probably not be here today discussing FATCA.

Canada Revenue Agency  Speaker, here is another Liberal broken promise. The Conservatives signed a deal to implement FATCA and hand over private financial information of a million Canadians to the United States. During the campaign, the Liberals said that the deal violated privacy rights and might even be unconstitutional.

Finance committee  I want to follow up with a few questions with respect to the intergovernmental agreement and FATCA. I think, Mr. Huppé, you talked about $2.4 million to implement the intergovernmental agreement with the U.S. Then, Mr. Stewart, you talked about $15 million allocated over the next few years to enable the implementation of FATCA.

Finance committee  These are some of the criticisms we heard from witnesses when the bills were under study. Some experts even said that adopting FATCA could undermine the implementation of the intergovernmental agreement. I'd like to ask you two quick questions on the subject. First of all, have there been any discussions to incorporate changes that would clarify things, allowing for clear implementation of the legislation and regulations?

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Or do we try to negotiate an intergovernmental agreement in the best interests of Canadians based upon what we are going to have to deal with? Because it is a false choice to say that we can opt out of FATCA. We cannot opt out of FATCA. There is no way we can opt out of FATCA. If we let FATCA happen, then we are going to be faced with up to a 30% withholding tax on the transfers coming in, not only to banks, but also to individuals.

Finance committee  IFIC's interest is in Bill C-31's implementing legislation for the intergovernmental agreement between Canada and the United States concerning FATCA. Recognizing that non-compliance with FATCA is not a realistic option, we have advocated for requirements that impose the least possible burden and cost on mutual fund investors specifically and on the industry generally.

Finance committee  We actively opposed FATCA publicly and appeared before and made submissions to U.S. government authorities. Unfortunately, despite worldwide efforts by the CBA and others, U.S. officials have no intention of repealing FATCA, and simply ignoring FATCA is not an option.

Finance committee  We'll have an intergovernmental agreement on FATCA that includes some exemptions for smaller financial institutions like credit unions and we'll have the OECD requirements which, to date, do not contemplate any such exemptions and, though modelled on FATCA, appear to require significantly greater reporting.

Finance committee  The U.S. has recently delayed the application of FATCA sanctions until January 2015. Canada is already deemed in compliance with the U.S. law, and legal experts have testified to this committee that there's ample time, therefore, to properly study and amend this agreement.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Speaker, when I gave my comments before, I said that one of the unfortunate things about the FATCA part of it is that people are confusing the need to file a tax return in the U.S. with the requirement that we have under FATCA. The situation that the member raised, as troubling as it is, does not change with FATCA, because that is a tax compliance issue that the individual and his family have.