The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network yesterday issued a proposal clarifying who is exempt from filing Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, or FBAR, under the Bank Secrecy Act.
Under the proposal, financial institution officers and employees who, due to their jobs, have signature authority but no financial interest in foreign accounts, would no longer be required to file FBARs, provided their employer files them. Instead, institutions would be required to maintain lists of officers and employees with signature authority and provide them to FinCEN upon request.
The proposal would also remove provisions limiting the information a filer must report when filing an FBAR for 25 or more foreign accounts. It also adjusts the FBAR filing deadline for tax year 2016 to April 15 of the following year; FBARs for tax year 2015 remain due on June 30. Comments on the proposal are due 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. For more information, contact ABA’s Phoebe Papageorgiou.
