Finance committee  Okay. In terms of interpretation of the rules, there were some problems before FATCA with the IGA. The CRA was not interpreting the rules to the satisfaction of or in accordance with the agreement, and then came FATCA. Is there a more stringent regime in place? By that I mean: these are the definitions; these are the rules that need to be applied, and there's not going to be any room for maneuvering, as there was under the IGA.

Finance committee  So absent an IGA, there would have been nothing to stop a Canadian institution from deciding not to implement or comply FATCA, but instead to become non-compliant, and thereby have choices that they do not have because of the IGA. The IGA says Canada will make all institutions comply with FATCA whether they want to or not.

Finance committee  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. Can you explain what he meant by that?

Finance committee  Russell, Ian, it's good to have you back before the committee. In a news release responding to FATCA, your organization suggested that registered savings accounts like RESPs and RDSPs are exempt from the scope of FATCA. These accounts are deemed non-reportable in the IGA. Just to be clear, individuals are still required to report them to the IRS if they are one of the million dual citizens, Canada-U.S. citizens.

Finance committee  This includes exempting a large number of accounts from FATCA, including registered retirement savings plans, registered retirement income funds, registered disability savings plans, and tax-free savings accounts. Do you agree that these exemptions will help to protect the financial information of U.S.

Finance committee  Thank you. My next question is for Mr. Pigeon. Mr. Pigeon, under the original FATCA legislation, all credit unions would have been subject to reporting requirements. Thanks to the IGA, smaller credit unions, those with assets of less than $175 million, will no longer be subject to FATCA.

Finance committee  Minister, yesterday you told the House that we obtained a number of concessions, including exempting certain accounts such as RRSPs, RDSPs, and TFSAs from FATCA reporting. Now, this is only half the story. These exemptions apply to Canadian banks and their obligations, not individuals. Can you clarify the record here at committee, that under FATCA, is there still a requirement for Canada-U.S. dual citizens living in Canada to report their registered Canadian accounts to the IRS?

Business of Supply  That bill would permit non-governmental organizations and corporations to have access to information from telecom companies. FATCA, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, buried deep in the budget bill, would expose the financial information of about one million Canadians to the U.S. government, and so on. In light of all of this, one could argue that there is a kind of naiveté to the motion I speak in support of today.

Canada-U.S. Relations  In our negotiations, we obtained a number of concessions, including exempting certain accounts, such as RRSPs, RDSPs, and TFSAs, from FATCA reporting.

Canada-U.S. Relations  In our negotiations, we obtained a number of concessions, including exempting certain accounts, like RRSPs, RDSPs, TFSAs, et cetera, from FATCA reporting. We are now in a much better position than without an agreement.

Finance committee  There are scholars who are going to be testifying at this committee who indicate that FATCA is “inconsistent” with the terms of the existing tax treaty we have between Canada and the United States because it “provides for appropriate changes to the treaty”. They say the intergovernmental agreement explicitly implements the FATCA agreement, but “superficially”.

Finance committee  I don't think that was the U.S. goal but it could have been the effect. Also, for those financial institutions that wanted to comply with FATCA and found some way to overcome the privacy conflicts that we think existed with doing it, their clientele would have been subject to not just the same requirements as this legislation but much more onerous requirements.

Finance committee  It was used actually very early on by one or more of the banks as a very rough estimate, but I frankly don't recall any longer whether it was in relation to FATCA, or.... I think it was in relation to FATCA rather than this new model. My suggestion would be, if I could be permitted to make it, to ask the banks.

Finance committee  On that basis, it gives you an indication of the helpfulness of this agreement in relation to FATCA itself.

Finance committee  I'd like to continue along the same questioning regarding the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, more commonly known as FATCA. An absence of an intergovernmental agreement, an IGA, would have meant there still would have been an obligation on Canadian financial institutions to comply with FATCA. It would have been a unilateral and automatic obligation imposed by the United States that would have come into effect on July 1, 2014.