FATCA

JN Bank and Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) in Jamaica and around the world must:

For FATCA purposes, you are deemed a “US Person” if you are a:

A “Foreign Person” is any other person who is not a U.S. person.

Persons, who indicate on the form that they are a “US Person”, are required to provide a W9 form or any other IRS Form which indicates their tax number and proof of their tax status.

If they indicate that they are not a US person (even though they have a US Address or telephone number), they are required to complete a W8 form.

The W8 form is an IRS form that grants a foreigner an exemption from certain U.S. information.

The W9 form is an IRS form, also known as “Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification”, which is used by an individual defined as a “U.S. person” or a resident alien, to verify his or her taxpayer identification number (TIN).

Any other IRS Form which can be used to provide proof of payment or exemption from

 payments to the IRS

The acronym GIIN stands for: Global Intermediary Identification Number.

This number is assigned by the IRS and indicates persons/entities who, for FATCA purposes,   have registered with the IRS.

IRS Form W8-BEN

IRS Form W9

Self Certification Form (Entity)

Self Certification Form (Individual)

The decision to renounce your citizenship should be carefully discussed with your legal and/or tax advisor. While we are not in a position to advise you on this decision, we believe that you should consider the following:

• In the process of renunciation, you may be required to declare your tax status for the five years preceding your renunciation;
• Renunciation may give rise to issues related to inheritance of property where your spouse and heirs are concerned.

The US “Heart” Act of 2008 subjects American citizens who renounce their citizenship to an “exit tax”. The provisions of the tax apply to a “covered expatriate” who has a net worth that is at least $2 million (Net Worth test); whose average tax liability for the 5 years prior to his/her expatriation is over $145,000 (Income Tax test), and who does not certify that he/she met all U.S. tax obligations for the five years before expatriation (compliance test).

Being a “covered expatriate” has implication, including attracting a tax on gifts to US citizens. For example, If you renounce citizenship, then as a non-resident non-U.S. citizen, while you should still be able to transfer property free of U.S. estate taxes upon death to your U.S.- citizen spouse, your spouse will have to pay a 35% tax on everything received from you above the gift exemption limit (currently $13,000) because you renounced U.S. citizenship.

If you and your spouse were to both renounce U.S. citizenship, then you would be able to pass him/her unlimited non-U.S. assets at any time free of all U.S. taxes. If you give your U.S.-assets to anyone other than a U.S.-citizen spouse, then he/she will face the U.S. estate tax.

At this time, no financial institution in Jamaica can hand over your information to the US without your consent. However with the Model 1 IGA, consent by a US status person or recalcitrant account holder may not be required since the data will be passed to the Jamaican authority tasked with FATCA. That authority will then pass the data on to the Treasury. The US law also requires all financial institutions to withhold a 30% tax on accounts, where a person refuses to provide information to allow the institution to determine whether or not they are a “US Person.”

There are severe restrictions on Financial Institutions who opt out of complying with the FATCA Regulations and we have decided that the JN Bank and its affiliated companies will be fully compliant. This will allow us to continue to serve not only all our US members but also all our non US members who need to send money to or from US banks.

FATCA compliance requires FFIs in Jamaica and around the world to take steps to:

• Enter into an FFI agreement with the IRS that states its intent to comply with FATCA
• Conduct due diligence for new and existing accounts to classify account holders or investors as either U.S. or non-U.S.
• Report account information directly to the IRS or indirectly through their national government, which have signed Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA)

JN Bank is proactively implementing changes to its current business practices in order to comply with FATCA, while best serving its clients and counterparties. We have taken steps to identify members that are likely to be affected by FATCA and are ensuring that all our members are adequately informed about the US law and its requirements. We have also trained our customer facing staff on the FATCA requirements, so that our customer service standards are maintained at a high level.

The simple transfer of money from someone in the US to someone in Jamaica, or any other foreign country, will not be impacted by FATCA withholding. However, money and income earned that is transferred into a US account will be subject to the FATCA reporting requirements.

Globally, the types of Financial Institutions which are likely to be affected by FATCA include: Commercial Banks, Building Societies, Insurance Companies with cash value contracts or annuities, Hedge Funds and Mutual Funds.

If you are a “US person” and you have US$50,000 or more in savings or investment in Cayman, or any other non-US territory, you are likely to be affected by FATCA and may be required to provide additional information to facilitate an assessment of whether a reporting obligation arises in relation to your account.

You are deemed a “US Person” if you fall into any of the following categories:

• You are a dual citizen, one of which is US citizenship
• You are a US citizen residing outside the US
• You are a US passport holder
• You were born in the US
• You are a ‘Green Card’ holder
• You are a non-US citizen who has substantial presence in the US, for at least 183 days (6 months)

FATCA requires all Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) worldwide, to sign an agreement with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify and report account information for US Persons, including:

• Taxpayer Information Number (TIN);
• Account Number
• Account balances, value, gross receipts and gross withdrawals or payments from the account