On December 1, 2014, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that countries that have reached FATCA inter-governmental agreements (IGAs) in substance but have not signed the agreements by the December 31 deadline will, under some conditions, still be treated as having intergovernmental agreements in effect. Treasury said that to be treated this way, the jurisdictions must demonstrate “firm resolve” to sign the IGAs as soon as possible. After December 31, Treasury will review the list of countries with in-substance agreements monthly to determine whether it will continue to treat those countries as having IGAs in effect. The determination will be based on a country’s responsiveness to communications from the U.S. regarding the IGA, and whether the country has raised concerns regarding its ability to sign or bring into force the text that was agreed to in substance.
