Lebanon’s financial sector braces for FATCA

The countdown is on, with just a month to go before the United States’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) goes live on July 1. Aimed at curbing tax evasion by American citizens, an estimated 26,000 foreign financial institutions (FFIs) around the world will have to be FATCA compliant or be shut out of the US financial system. As a result, FFIs — primarily banks — are scrambling to be ready to report to central banks or directly to the US’s International Revenue Service (IRS), depending on governmental agreements. [pullquote]“In substance, the threat is to be cut off from the US financial system.”[/pullquote] In the MENA region, Lebanon is considered by local bankers to be ahead of the pack, followed by Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. “We’re really well prepared to meet FATCA, and I think with all modesty, the most prepared in the MENA today, because we