On February 8, Treasury released nearly 400 pages of highly detailed proposed regulations (the Proposed Regulations) relating to the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). In drafting the Proposed Regulations, Treasury has attempted to address hundreds of comments from industry stakeholders and practitioners regarding earlier guidance on FATCA. As a result, while industry participants and practitioners continue to have concerns regarding FATCA, the Proposed Regulations appear to resolve a number of issues left open by previous guidance.

Along with the Proposed Regulations, Treasury announced a new information-exchange program with France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom that is intended to help banks overcome local law impediments to disclosure of bank account information to the IRS. Treasury has indicated that such intergovernmental information sharing may serve as the basis for an alternative means of implementing the reporting requirements under FATCA.