ALEXBANK announced that it will start applying the U.S Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act known as FATCA beginning of July 1st. The bank has signed an agreement regarding FATCA incompliance with the instructions of the Central Bank of Egypt and the Intesa Sanpaolo group. Roberto Vercelli, ALEXBANK's CEO, stated; "ALEXBANK created a comprehensive action plan to meet the requirements for applying the FATCA agreement. The bank modified procedures for obtaining sufficient data about the identity of American clients or clients whose U.S citizenship indicators are available and their ownership of assets. The bank's automated system has also been developed and managers and customer service employees have been trained as part of ALEXBANK's plan to develop skills and raise awareness about the requirements of the law." Bank management appointed an official to communicate directly with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to which he should also submit an annual report. The bank also formed a specialized internal committee comprised of all the bank's sectors that have a direct or indirect role in applying the FATCA law. The function of this committee is to provide the facilities and support necessary for the FATCA's implementation. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was passed in 2010 as a portion of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. The FATCA is a crucial law enacted by the U.S government to prevent tax evasion by U.S citizens using offshore banking facilities. Under the provisions of this law, all foreign financial institutions must provide periodic reports to the IRS disclosing specified details about the financial accounts of holders of U.S citizenship or holders of dual or multiple citizenships one of which is American.
