FATCA Portal Opened for Registration by FFIs (with Lofchie Comment)

The IRS activated its FATCA Registration Portal on August 19 to permit foreign financial institutions ("FFIs") to start registering under FATCA and to agree to the terms of an FFI Agreement with the IRS. The FATCA Registration Portal can be accessed at www.irs.gov/fatca.

As indicated in Notice 2013-43, FFIs can now set up an account through the Portal and add or modify registration information. Information entered into the system prior to January 1, 2014, even if submitted as final, will not be regarded as a final submission but will merely be stored on the website. On or after January 1, 2014, each FFI will need to finalize its registration information by logging into its online account, making any necessary additional changes, and submitting the information as final. Thus, through December 31, 2013, FFIs can use the portal to become familiar with the registration process and to input preliminary information. A global intermediary identification number ("GIIN") will be issued after January 1, 2014, as registrations are finalized. The IRS will post the first FFI list by June 2, 2014. To ensure inclusion in the June 2014 IRS FFI list, FFIs will need to finalize their registration by April 25, 2014.

The IRS also posted to its website the following informational documents (linked below) to assist FFIs in the registration process:

1. Instructions for Form 8957 (the paper version of FATCA registration). Form 8957 had been issued previously without instructions. The IRS strongly urges FFIs to register for FATCA electronically through the IRS Portal rather than to file Form 8957. Form 8957 should not be mailed to the IRS prior to January 1, 2014 as the IRS will not be in a position to accept and process such forms before that date.
2. FATCA Registration User Guide. This 75-page document essentially provides detailed instructions for online registration under FATCA, including numerous graphic examples.
3. IRS Tips for Logging in to the FATCA Portal. This document is a quick tip list to help FFIs log in to their FATCA account.
4. GIIN Composition Guide. This document explains the composition of the 19-character identification number (including points). The GIIN will be in the following format: XXXXXX.XXXXX.XX.XXX. The first 6 characters will be the FATCA ID randomly generated when an FFI first opens a FATCA account. The next 5 digits will indicate whether the registrant is a Lead FFI, a Sponsoring Entity, a single stand-alone FFI, or a Member of an Expanded Affiliated Group. The next two characters provide a Category Code (e.g., LE = Lead, BR = Branch). The final 3 characters reflect the Country of residence, or registering branch of the FFI, using the ISO 3166-1 numeric standard country code of the FFI or the branch (e.g., 136 for Cayman Islands and 756 for Switzerland).

Lofchie Comment: On a completely unrelated note, here is Wikipedia's entry on the Stargate Portal, which is currently "inactive" because, among other things, its purpose may be unclear.

See: IRS Notice 2013-43. See also: Form 8957; Instructions for Form 8957; FATCA Registration User Guide; IRS Tips for Logging in to FATCA Portal; GIIN Composition Guide.