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16 DECEMBER 2015. - An Act to regulate the disclosure of financial accounts information, by Belgian financial institutions and the SPF Finance, as part of an automatic exchange of information at the international level and for tax purposes (1)

PHILIPPE, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The House of Representatives adopted and sanctioned the following:
CHAPTER I^er. - Scope of application
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 74 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The law regulates the obligations of Belgian Financial Institutions and SPF Finance with respect to information that must be communicated to a competent authority of another jurisdiction in the context of an automatic exchange of information relating to organized financial accounts, in accordance with Directive 2014/107/EU of the Council of 9 December 2014 amending Directive 2011/16/EU with regard to the automatic and compulsory exchange of information in the tax field, the joint OECD/Council of Europe
Chapter II. - Definitions
Art. 3. For the purposes of the Act, the terms and expressions contained therein have the meaning defined in Schedules I, II and III to the law, which are an integral part of the law.
Art. 4. Any term or expression that is not defined in the Annexes has the meaning assigned to it by Belgian law at the time the law is applied, any definition contained in the tax legislation taking it on a definition contained in another legislation.
Chapter III. - Obligations for a reporting financial institution to provide information on declarable accounts and payments to non-participating financial institutions
Art. 5. § 1^er. A reporting financial institution must automatically communicate to the competent Belgian authority the following information regarding any declarable account opened to that institution.
§ 2. For each reporting account, each reporting financial institution must communicate:
(a) in the case of a natural person who is an account holder, the name, address, jurisdiction(s) of residence, the NIF(s), the date and place of birth of each person to be reported;
(b) in the case of an entity that is an account holder and a person to be the subject of a declaration, the name, address, jurisdiction(s) of residence and the NIF(s) of that entity;
(c) in the case of an entity that is an account holder and for which, after application of due diligence obligations, set out in Appendix II with respect to the United States and in Appendix III with respect to another reporting jurisdiction, it appears that one or more persons holding control of that entity are persons to be the subject of a declaration:
i. the name, address, residence jurisdiction(s) and the NIF(s) of that entity, and
ii. the name, address, jurisdiction(s) of residence, the NIF(s) and the date and place of birth of each person to be reported;
(d) the account number (in IBAN format when available) or its functional equivalent in the absence of an account number;
(e) the name and identification number (possibly) of the reporting financial institution; where the United States is the reporting jurisdiction, the Global Intermediary Identification Number of the reporting financial institution;
(f) the balance or value of the account (including, in the case of an insurance contract with a redemption value or an annuity contract, the redemption value) at the end of the relevant calendar year or another appropriate reference period; if the account has been closed during the year or period in question, the closing of the account or, where the United States is the subject-matter, the last balance or the last value before the closing of the account;
(g) in the case of an account:
i. the total gross amount of interest, the total gross amount of dividends and the total gross amount of other income generated by the assets held on the account, paid or credited to the account, or in respect of the account, in the calendar year or another appropriate base period when the reporting financial institution acted as depositary of such interest, dividends or other income on behalf of the account holder; and
ii. the total gross proceeds of the sale, redemption or repayment of a financial asset paid or credited to the account in the calendar year or another appropriate reference period for which the reporting financial institution acted as depositary, broker, name or other representative of the account holder;
(h) in the case of a deposit account, the total gross amount of interest paid or credited to the account in the calendar year or another appropriate base period; and
(i) in the case of an account that is not referred to in subsections 2(g) or 2 (h), the total gross amount paid to or credited to the account holder during the calendar year or another appropriate reference period, the declaring financial institution of which is the debiter, including the total amount of all amounts refunded to the holder during the calendar year or another appropriate reference period.
§ 3. The information referred to in paragraph 2, (f) to (i) shall indicate the currency in which each amount is communicated to the Belgian competent authority. The balance or value of the account shall be disclosed in the currency in which the account is denominated. When the account is denominated in several currencies, the reporting financial institution may choose to defer the balance or value on the account in one of the currencies in which the account is denominated and must indicate the currency chosen. Notwithstanding the above, where the United States is the subject-matter, the balance or value on the account may be disclosed in US dollars notwithstanding the currency in which the account is denominated. Currency in which the account is denominated is converted using the exchange rate on the last day of the calendar year or another appropriate reference period to which the information relates.
§ 4. Each reporting financial institution shall apply due diligence obligations, as set out in Appendix II with respect to the United States and Appendix III with respect to another reporting jurisdiction, in order to disclose the information referred to in this section for any declarable account and to exclude from their communications information relating to non-declarable accounts.
Art. 6. § 1^er. Notwithstanding section 5, § 2, with respect to each declarable account that is a pre-existing account, the NIF must be disclosed only if it is included in the records of the reporting financial institution. The date of birth must be communicated only to the extent that the reporting financial institution is otherwise required under any provision of Belgian law to obtain this information and to the extent that this information is included in the data retained by the reporting financial institution. However, a reporting financial institution is required to make reasonable efforts to obtain NIF and the date of birth for pre-existing accounts before the end of the second calendar year following the year in which these accounts were identified as declarable accounts.
§ 2. Notwithstanding Article 5, § 2, the NIF shall not be communicated if:
(i) the jurisdiction submitted to the relevant declaration did not issue NIF;
or if:
(ii) the domestic law of the jurisdiction subject to declaration shall not impose the collection of NIFs issued by the court.
§ 3. Notwithstanding Article 5, § 2, the place of birth shall not be communicated, except to the extent that the reporting financial institution is otherwise required under any provision of Belgian law to obtain this information and to the extent that this information is among the data retained by the reporting financial institution and may be searched electronically.
Art. 7. § 1^er. An account is considered to be a declarable account from the date on which it is identified as such in accordance with the due diligence procedures set out in Appendix II with respect to the United States and Appendix III with respect to another reporting jurisdiction.
§ 2. The balance or value of an account corresponds to its balance or value on the last day of the calendar year or other appropriate reference period.
§ 3. Where a balance or value threshold is to be determined on the last day of a calendar year, the balance or the value threshold shall be determined on the last day of the reporting period ending at the end of that calendar year or during that calendar year.
Art. 8. § 1^er. For the purposes of the obligations defined in Article 5, the amount and qualification of payments made under a declarable account shall be determined in accordance with the principles of Belgian tax law.
§ 2. The information referred to in the Act shall be communicated, for the years specified in Articles 9 and 10, respectively with respect to the United States and other Member States of the European Union, and for the years specified by Royal Decree, with respect to each other subject to declaration, and every subsequent year, within six months after the end of the calendar year to which they relate. By derogation from this rule, with respect to the United States, information relating to the period 1^er July 2014 to 31 December 2014 must be communicated 10 days after the publication of this Act to the Belgian Monitor.
§ 3. Reporting financial institutions collect the information covered by the Act in accordance with the terms and conditions provided by law and endeavour to provide accurate and complete information. Where the competent authority of another jurisdiction has reason to believe that errors of an administrative or other nature may have resulted in the communication of incorrect or incomplete information, the competent Belgian authority may require the reporting financial institution concerned to verify the information and to provide it with corrected and/or complete information within one month of the third working day that is just following the sending of the request, that period may be extended for a month. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "workable day" includes every day with the exception of Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
§ 4. The information is communicated electronically to the competent Belgian authority via the designated liaison service, for this purpose, within the SPF Finance. The liaison service only communicates the information to the Belgian competent authority.
Art. 9. § 1^er. When the United States is the subject of a declaration:
(a) the information referred to in Article 5, § 2, (a) to (f), shall be disclosed for the period from 1^er July 2014 to December 31, 2014;
(b) the information referred to in Article 5, § 2, (a) to (i), with the exception of the gross product referred to in § 2, (g), (ii) shall be communicated for the year 2015;
(c) the information referred to in Article 5, § 2, (a) to (i), is disclosed for the year 2016 and subsequent years.
§ 2. Notwithstanding § 1^er, in respect of a declarable account maintained by a reporting financial institution dated 30 June 2014, the reporting financial institution is required, for the years 2014 to 2016, to communicate the NIF of a person to be reported only if the NIF is included in its records. If this is not the case, the reporting financial institution obtains and incorporates the date of birth of the data subject if such date is included in its records. As of 2017 the obligation to obtain and integrate the information exchanged, the U.S. NIF becomes unconditional.
§ 3. Notwithstanding § 1^erthe place of birth shall not be communicated when the United States is the jurisdiction to be declared.
§ 4. When the United States is the reporting jurisdiction, each reporting financial institution must communicate, for each of the years 2015 and 2016, the name of each non-participating financial institution to which it made payments and the total amount of those payments. Each reporting financial institution applies due diligence obligations, as described in Appendix II to the U.S. Act, to determine whether a financial institution is a non-participating financial institution.
§ 5. Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs, the obligation to disclose the information shall be deferred by Royal Decree to later dates in the event that the competent Belgian authority or the competent American authority has not notified the other competent authority that it has the certainty that the United States or Belgium, as the case may be, has put in place the necessary infrastructure for an effective exchange and appropriate safeguards for the information to remain confidential and serve solely for tax purposes.
Art. 10. Where the jurisdiction referred to in the declaration is another Member State of the European Union, the information referred to in the law is first communicated for the year 2016.
Art. 11. § 1^er. The law ceases to apply, in respect of one or more jurisdictions submitted to declaration, from the first day of the month following the end of a period of 12 months following the date on which Belgium, or a jurisdiction submitted to declaration, has notified, in accordance with an administrative agreement, the termination of its participation in this agreement or the termination of its participation in that agreement in respect of one or more jurisdictions subject to specific declaration, or in the case of Belgium. In such cases, all information provided to the competent Belgian authority in accordance with the law, with respect to the jurisdiction(s) subject to the declaration concerned, shall continue to be subject to the law after the law has ceased to apply with respect to that jurisdiction(s).
§ 2. When the law ceases to apply in respect of a jurisdiction in accordance with paragraph 1, the end of its application shall be the subject of a publication by mention to the Belgian Monitor.
Art. 12. § 1^er. Reporting financial institutions may rely on third-party providers to comply with statutory reporting and due diligence obligations, but these obligations remain the responsibility of reporting financial institutions.
§ 2. Reporting financial institutions verify the identity of the account holder, using a probative document, of which it is copied, on paper or electronic. Copies of identification data and records, vouchers and records of transactions on the declarable account must be kept for at least seven years from 1^er January of the calendar year following the year in which the account is closed.
§ 3. For natural persons, identity identification and verification are related to the name, first name, place and date of birth. Relevant information must also be collected, to the extent possible, regarding the address of the identified persons. For legal persons, trusts, trusts and similar legal structures, identification and verification of identity are related to the name, head office, administrators and provisions governing the authority to engage the legal person, trust, trust or similar legal construction.
§ 4. Reporting financial institutions retain the computerized data banks that they have communicated to the Belgian competent authority for seven years from 1^er January of the calendar year following the calendar year in which they communicated them to that authority. Data banks are erased upon expiry of this period.
§ 5. The Belgian financial institutions are obliged to communicate to the tax administration, without displacement, with a view to their verification, all the books and documents necessary to determine whether they meet the reporting and due diligence obligations provided by law, the analysis, programming and operation records of the system used, and the information materials and all the data they contain. Notwithstanding the powers conferred on the administration by any other legislation, the above-mentioned investigations may be carried out, without prior notification, during the calendar year in which the Belgian Financial Institutions shall communicate the information to the Belgian competent authority and within three years from the 1st^er January of the calendar year following the calendar year in which such information must be disclosed.
§ 6. Notwithstanding § 5, investigations may be carried out within an additional four-year period when the tax administration has clues that a Belgian financial institution has failed to comply with the obligations of declaration and due diligence provided by law in a fraudulent intention or intended to harm or where the competent authority of another jurisdiction has notified the Belgian financial authority that it has reason to believe that incorrect or incomplete information has been held Prior to the investigation, the tax administration must notify the financial institution concerned, in writing and in a specific manner, of the fraud indices that exist or the notification received from the competent authority of another jurisdiction as appropriate.
CHAPTER IV Privacy and Privacy
Art. 13. § 1^er. The processing of the information referred to in this Act falls under the Privacy Protection Act of 8 December 1992 with respect to personal data processing.
§ 2. For the purposes of the Act of 8 December 1992, each Reporting Financial Institution and the SPF Finance are considered to be "responsible to the processing" of "personal data" with respect to the information referred to in this Act that is related to natural persons.
Art. 14. § 1^er. Each reporting financial institution informs each individual concerned that personal data concerning it will be communicated to the Belgian competent authority. This information includes:
(a) the purposes of personal data communications;
(b) the recipient or ultimate recipients of personal data;
(c) declarable accounts for which personal data are provided;
(d) the existence of a right to obtain, upon request, specific data that will or have been communicated regarding a declarable account and the terms and conditions for the exercise of that right;
(e) the existence of a right to rectification of personal data concerning it and the procedure for exercising that right.
§ 2. The reporting financial institution shall provide the physical person with the information referred to in § 1^er no later than the day before the day on which information referred to in the Act is first disclosed with respect to it.
§ 3. The information referred to in § 1^er is also provided to a natural person no later than the day before the day on which information is disclosed under the law for a calendar year in which:
(a) one or the ultimate recipient of personal data is amended with respect to it;
(b) the list of declarable accounts for which personal data are provided is amended with respect to it;
(c) the natural person is again a person to be the subject of a statement after having ceased to be the subject of a statement for one or more calendar years.
§ 4. The practical terms and conditions of the right of rectification are defined by the Financial Reporting Institute in accordance with Article 12 of the Act of 8 December 1992 referred to above. If a request for rectification discloses that incorrect data has been sent to the Belgian competent authority concerning a natural person, the reporting financial institution shall send, in accordance with the terms set out in Article 8, § 4, a file complementary to that authority containing the corrected data concerning that physical person.
§ 5. Each reporting financial institution shall promptly inform each natural person of any security breach that is likely to affect the protection of personal data concerning him or her and which has taken place during the processing of data carried out by that institution under the law. It also promptly informs the Belgian competent authority of this breach of security.
Art. 15. § 1^er. Officials of the public administration to which the Belgian competent authority belongs shall remain in the performance of their duties when communicating the information referred to by law to the competent authority of another jurisdiction. The provisions relating to the professional secrecy of FPS Finance officers are applicable to all of which the FPS Agents were aware as part of the processing of information covered by the Act.
§ 2. The provisions of the Act of 3 August 2012 relating to the processing of personal data carried out by the FPS Finance in its missions apply to the processing of this information, particularly section 9 on the right of access to data.
§ 3. FPS Finance retains the computerized data banks provided to the competent authority of another jurisdiction for seven years from 1^er January of the calendar year following the calendar year in which they were communicated to that authority. Data banks are erased upon expiry of this period.
§ 4. The Belgian competent authority shall promptly notify the Secretariat of the Coordinating Body designated in the Multilateral Convention and the competent authority of a jurisdiction that is not a Party to the Multilateral Convention of any security breach that is likely to affect the protection of personal data concerning a resident of that jurisdiction, or an American citizen in the case of the United States, and that intervened during the processing of data carried out by a reporting financial institution.
Art. 16. § 1^er. The provisions of sections 21 and 22 of the Act of 8 December 1992 on the protection of privacy with respect to personal data processing apply to transfers of information referred to by law to a non-member jurisdiction of the European Union.
§ 2. To the extent that these transfers are part of a reciprocal exchange of information for tax purposes and condition that Belgium obtain comparable information to improve compliance with tax obligations to which taxpayers subject to tax in Belgium are subject, these transfers are necessary to safeguard a significant public interest in Belgium. To this extent, these transfers are made in accordance with Article 22, § 1^erParagraph 1^er, of the above-mentioned Act of 8 December 1992 when they are carried out to a non-member jurisdiction of the European Union which is not generally considered to provide an adequate level of protection.
§ 3. Notwithstanding the other provisions of the law, the application of the law shall be postponed or suspended under a jurisdiction not a member of the European Union if it is established that this jurisdiction has not put in place an infrastructure that ensures that the financial institutions established in its territory and its tax administration sufficiently inform the residents of Belgium of the information concerning them that will be communicated by that jurisdiction in the context of an automatic exchange of information relating to the financial accounts. The application of the law is postponed or suspended by the King after a written notice has been sent by the competent Belgian authority to the competent authority of the jurisdiction concerned. The postponement or suspension takes effect on the date of publication of the Royal Decree to the Belgian Monitor.
Art. 17. § 1^er. The information transferred to a reporting jurisdiction is subject to the confidentiality obligations and other protection measures provided for in the tax treaty that allows the automatic exchange of information between Belgium and that jurisdiction and the administrative agreement that organizes the exchange, including provisions limiting the use of the information exchanged.
§ 2. However, notwithstanding the provisions of a tax treaty, the Belgian competent authority:
- may authorize, in a general and condition of reciprocity, a jurisdiction to which the information is transferred to use it as a means of proof before criminal courts where such information contributes to the initiation of criminal proceedings in respect of tax evasion;
- subject to the first dash, may not authorize a jurisdiction to which the information is transferred to use it for any purpose other than the establishment or recovery of the taxes referred to in the treaty, the procedures or proceedings relating to such taxes, the decisions on appeals relating to such taxes or the control of the foregoing; and
- cannot authorize a jurisdiction to which the information is transferred to communicate it to a third court.
CHAPTER V. - Sanctions
Art. 18. § 1^er. An administrative fine of EUR 1,000 per declarable account concerned shall be applicable to any Belgian financial institution that refrains or refuses to automatically disclose information required by law with respect to one or more declarable accounts, which communicates them outside the time limit set, which does not comply with the terms prescribed for the communication of information, including due diligence obligations or which discloses incorrect or incomplete information.
§ 2. An administrative fine of EUR 2.500 is applicable to any Belgian financial institution for any other offence under the provisions of the law, with the exception of offences under section 14 that are punished in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 8 December 1992 on the protection of privacy with respect to personal data processing.
§ 3. The fines set out in the preceding paragraphs are not applicable where an offence arises from circumstances beyond the control of the reporting financial institution.
§ 4. When an offence is committed with fraudulent intent or intended to harm, the amount of the fine provided for in the preceding paragraphs is doubled.
§ 5. The administrative fines provided for in this section shall be established and recovered in accordance with the rules applicable to administrative fines referred to in section 445 of the Income Tax Code 1992.
Art. 19. § 1^er. Any offence referred to in section 18 that is committed in fraudulent intent or intended to harm will be punished in accordance with section 449 of the Income Tax Code 1992.
§ 2. A person who has committed a false in public, commercial or private writing, or has made use of such a false, in order to commit an offence under section 18, shall be punished in accordance with section 450, paragraph 1^er, Income Tax Code 1992.
§ 3. All provisions of Book 1 of the Penal Code, including Chapter VII and Article 85, are applicable to offences under this section. The Act of 5 March 1952 on additional criminal fines is also applicable to these offences.
§ 4. The provisions of sections 458 to 463 of the Income Tax Code 1992 are applicable to offences referred to in this article.
CHAPTER VI. - Miscellaneous
Art. 20. The law comes into force:
- 10 days after its publication to the Belgian Monitor, with regard to information destined for the United States and those destined for another Member State of the European Union, and
- on the date fixed by the King with respect to the information intended for each other Jurisdiction subject to declaration.
Art. 21. The King is responsible for amending the reference by law to a provision of Belgian law when a modification of the provisions of Belgian law on an identical object renders the reference null and void.
Promulgate this Act, order that it be put on the State Seal and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 16 December 2015.
PHILIPPE
By the King:
Minister of Finance,
J. VAN OVERTVELDT
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
K. GEENS
____
Note
(1) House of Representatives (www.lachambre.be):
Documents: 54 - 1448

ANNEX I: Definitions
A. GENERAL DEFINITIONS
1. The term "directive" refers to Council Directive 2014/107/EU of 9 December 2014 amending Directive 2011/16/EU with regard to the automatic and mandatory exchange of information in the tax field.
2. The term "administrative agreement" means any agreement which is concluded by the Belgian Government or the Belgian competent authority with the Government or the competent authority of another State in accordance with a treaty between Belgium and that other State and which provides for the obligation of Belgium to automatically communicate the information referred to in Article 5 of Chapter III of this Law.
3. The term " Belgian Competent Authority" means the Federal Minister of Finance or its authorized representative.
4. The term "competent authority of another jurisdiction" means the authority designated as such by that other jurisdiction or its authorized representative.
5. The term "financial institution" means any person engaged in an activity as:
(a) Establishment managing securities deposits;
(b) Filing establishment;
(c) Investment entity;
(d) special insurance company.
6. The term "Belgian financial institution" means any resident financial institution of Belgium, excluding any branch of this financial institution located outside the territory of Belgium, and any branch of a non-resident financial institution of Belgium if that branch is established in Belgium.
7. The term "financial institution of a partner jurisdiction" means any resident financial institution of a partner jurisdiction, excluding any branch of such a financial institution located outside a partner jurisdiction, and any branch of a non-resident financial institution of a partner jurisdiction if that branch is established in that jurisdiction.
When the United States is the partner jurisdiction, the term does not include any financial institution incorporated or registered in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the United States Virgin Islands.
8. The term "the securities deposit management institution" means any entity whose substantial share of the activity consists of holding financial assets on behalf of third parties. This is the case if the entity's gross income attributable to the possession of financial assets and related financial services is greater than or equal to 20% of the entity's gross income during:
- the three-year period ending December 31 (or the last day of a calendar year) before the year in which the calculation is made, or
- the period of existence of the entity if it is less than three years.
9. The term "deposit institution" means any entity that accepts deposits within the usual framework of a banking activity or similar activities.
10. The term "investment entity" means any entity:
(a) that operates as a principal activity one or more of the following benefits or transactions on behalf of or on behalf of a client:
i. transactions in monetary market instruments (e.g. cheques, notes, deposit certificates, derivative financial instruments, etc.), the exchange market, foreign currency instruments, interest rates and indices, securities or futures markets of goods;
ii. individual or collective portfolio management; or
iii. other investment, administration or management of financial assets or money on behalf of third parties; or
(b) whose gross revenues are primarily derived from an investment, reinvestment or financial asset trading activity, if the entity is managed by another entity that is a deposit institution, a securities deposit management institution, a particular insurance company or an investment entity described in subparagraph (a) above.
An entity is considered to be carrying on a principal activity of one or more of the activities described in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph 10 or the gross income of an entity is derived primarily from an investment, reinvestment or trading activity of financial assets for the purposes of subparagraph (b) of this paragraph 10 if the gross income of the entity generated by the related activities is greater than or equal to 50% of its gross revenues during:
- the three-year period ending December 31 of the year preceding the year in which the calculation is made; or
- the period of existence of the entity if it is less than three years.
The term "investment entity" excludes an entity that is an EENF or an active FRF because it meets one of the criteria referred to in subparagraphs (e) to (h) of paragraph 4, section B of Part V of Schedule II and subparagraphs (d) to (g) of paragraph 3, section D of Part V of Schedule III.
This paragraph 10 is interpreted in accordance with the definition of the term "financial institution" contained in the Recommendations of the Financial Action Group (FATF).
11. The term "financial assets" means a title (e.g., representing a share of capital in a corporation; a share or right of enjoyment in a partnership (partnership) with many partners or in a partnership sponsored by shares listed on the stock exchange, or a trust; another obligation or other title of receivable), an interest, a commodity, an exchange contract (e.g. interest rates, currency, reference rates, ceiling and floor rate guarantee contracts, contract for the exchange of goods, claims against assets, contracts on stock indices and similar agreements), an insurance contract or annuity contract, or any right (including a term contract or an insurance agreement) A direct interest in a property without recourse to the loan does not constitute a "financial asset".
12. The term "special insurance company" means any insurance company (or the holding company of an insurance company) that issues an insurance contract with a redemption value or an annuity contract or is required to make payments related to that contract.
B. FINANCIAL INSTITUTION AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
1. The term "reporting financial institution" means any Belgian financial institution that is not a non-reporting financial institution.
2. The term "non-reporting financial institution" means any Belgian financial institution that is:
(a) a public entity, an international organization or a central bank, except in respect of a payment resulting from an obligation held in connection with a commercial financial activity carried out by a particular insurance company, a depositary institution or a securities depositing establishment;
(b) a broad-based pension fund; a narrow-ended pension fund; a pension fund of a public entity, an international organization or a central bank; a collective investment fund referred to in section 145¹⁶ the Income Tax Code, 1992, established for the investment of funds through a collective savings account as part of a retirement savings plan with tax benefits; or an approved credit card issuer;
When the United States is the subject-matter jurisdiction, the term "non-declaring financial institution" refers in any case to a pension fund established in Belgium and referred to in Article 3, subparagraph 1 (k) of the Convention between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion in respect of income tax signed on November 27, 2006, where such provisions may
(c) any other entity that has a low risk of being used for a purpose of tax evasion that has substantially similar characteristics to those of the entities described in subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 2 of this section B and that is defined as a financial institution not declaring by the King;
(d) a collective investment agency provided;
(e) a trust constituted under the laws of a court subject to declaration to the extent that the trustee of that trust is a financial institution reporting and discloses all information required under the law regarding all the declared accounts of the trust; or
(f) where the United States is the reporting jurisdiction, a financial institution with a local clientele that meets the following requirements:
i. the financial institution must be approved and regulated as a financial institution under Belgian law;
ii. the financial institution must not have a fixed place of business outside the Belgian territory. To this end, a fixed business facility does not include a location that is not reported to the public and from which the financial institution has an administrative support role exclusively;
iii. the financial institution must not approach clients or account holders outside Belgian territory. To this end, a financial institution is not deemed to have solicited clients or account holders outside Belgian territory on the basis that this financial institution:
- operates a website, provided that the website does not expressly indicate that the financial institution provides financial accounts or services to non-residents, and does not target or otherwise solicit US customers or account holders, or
- advertises in the written press, or on a radio or television station, and that this media is distributed or broadcast mainly in Belgium but also incidentally in other countries, provided that this advertisement does not expressly indicate that the financial institution provides accounts or financial services to non-residents, and does not target or otherwise solicit US customers or U.S. account holders;
iv. the financial institution is required, pursuant to Belgian legislation, to identify resident account holders in order to provide information, to make a deduction to the source of the financial accounts tax held by Belgian residents or to complete the procedures for identifying customers and combating money laundering (AML/KYC);
v. 98% of the value of financial accounts managed by the financial institution must be held by residents (including residents who are entities) of Belgium or a Member State of the European Union;
vi. from 1^er July 2014 at the latest, or on the date it becomes a non-declaring financial institution, the financial institution must have rules and procedures in accordance with those set out in Annex I of the FATCA Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the United States of America, to prevent it from holding a financial account of a non-participating financial institution and to verify whether it opens or retains a financial account for a resident
vii. these rules and procedures shall provide that, in the event of identification of a financial account held by a person to be the subject of a declaration, who is not a resident of Belgium, or by a passive EENF, whose control is held by resident persons or by U.S. citizens, who are not residents of Belgium, the financial institution must declare that financial account as if the financial institution was a reporting financial institution (y)
viii. any pre-existing account held by a natural person who is not a resident of Belgium or by an entity shall be examined by that financial institution in accordance with the procedures set out in Appendix II and applicable to the pre-existing accounts in order to identify any declarable account held by a non-participating financial institution. If such an account is identified, the financial institution must declare it as if it were a reporting financial institution (including following the registration requirements applicable on the FATCA website of the IRS) or close it;
ix. any entity related to the financial institution that is a financial institution must be incorporated or governed by Belgian law and, with the exception of pension funds described in subparagraph (b), paragraph 2 of this section B, meet the criteria set out in this subparagraph (f); and
x. the financial institution shall not have discriminatory policies or practices with respect to the opening or retention of financial accounts for natural persons who are persons to be reported and are residents of Belgium; or
(g) where the United States is the subject-matter, a local bank that meets the following requirements:
i. the financial institution exercises only as (and is authorized and regulated under Belgian laws as):
- bank, or
- credit union or similar non-profit-operated credit union organization;
ii. the activity of the financial institution consists mainly of receiving deposits of and allocating loans to:
- with respect to a bank, "private" clients, and
- in respect of a credit union or a similar cooperative credit corporation, members, provided that no member has an interest of more than 5% in that credit union or co-operative credit corporation;
iii. the financial institution shall meet the requirements set out in subparagraph (f), (ii) and (iii) of this paragraph, provided that, in addition to the limitations on the website described in subparagraph (f), (iii), this website does not permit the opening of a financial account;
iv. the financial institution does not have more than US$ 175 million to the assets of its balance sheet, and the financial institution and its related entities, taken as a whole, have no more than US$ 500 million to the total assets of their consolidated or combined balance sheets; and
v. any related entity shall be incorporated or registered in Belgium, and any related entity that is a financial institution, except a related entity that is a broad-based pension fund, a pension fund with close participation, a pension fund defined, in respect of Belgium, in Article 3, subparagraph 1 (k) of the Convention between the paragraph Belgium and the United States to avoid dual taxation and to prevent tax evasion
(h) where the United States is the reporting jurisdiction, a Belgian financial institution with only low-value accounts that meets the following requirements:
i. the financial institution is not an investment entity;
ii. no financial account managed by the financial institution or a related entity shall have a balance or value greater than US$50,000, applying the rules set out in Appendix II for consolidation of account and conversion of currency; and
iii. the assets on the balance sheet of the financial institution do not exceed US$50 million and the total assets on the consolidated or combined balance sheet of the financial institution and related entities, taken together, do not exceed US$50 million.
(j) where the United States is the reporting jurisdiction, a Belgian financial institution that is a sponsored investment entity defined in (i) below or a sponsored foreign controlled corporation defined in (ii) below with a sponsoring entity in accordance with the requirements of (iii) below:
i. a financial institution is a sponsored investment entity if:
- it is an investment entity established in Belgium that is not a registered intermediary (qualified intermediary), a foreign partnership corporation that is holding foreign partnership or a foreign trust that is holding foreign trust in accordance with the applicable provisions of the United States Treasury, and
- an entity has agreed with it to act for it as a sponsorship entity;
ii. a financial institution is a foreign controlled sponsored corporation if,
- the financial institution is a controlled foreign corporation incorporated under Belgian law and is not an authorized intermediary, a foreign partnership carrying out the deduction or a foreign trust holding under the applicable provisions of the United States Treasury Regulations,
- the financial institution is wholly, directly or indirectly, owned by a reporting U.S. financial institution that accepts to act, or that requires a subsidiary of the institution to act as a sponsoring entity for the financial institution, and
- the financial institution shares a common electronic account system with the sponsoring entity, which allows the sponsor to identify all account holders and beneficiaries of the financial institution and to have access to all information relating to accounts and clients held by the financial institution, including, inter alia, customer identification information, customer documents, account balances and all payments made for the benefit of the account holder or recipient;
iii. the sponsoring entity meets the following criteria:
- the sponsoring entity is authorized to act on behalf of the financial institution (e.g., as a fund manager, trustee, administrator or managing partner) in order to meet the applicable registration obligations on the IRS website for registration relating to the FATCA Act;
- it is registered as a sponsoring entity to the IRS on the IRS website for registration relating to the FATCA Act;
- if it identifies U.S. declarable accounts related to the financial institution, it registers the financial institution on the IRS website for the registration of the FATCA Act no later than 31 December 2015 or, if it is later, 90 days after the date on which such an American declarable account is initially identified;
- the sponsoring entity agrees to fulfill on behalf of the financial institution, all due diligence, deduction to the source, declaration and other procedures that the financial institution would be required to perform if it were a reporting financial institution;
- it indicates the name and identification number of the financial institution, (obtained by meeting the applicable registration obligations on the IRS website for the registration of the FATCA law) in all documents completed on behalf of the financial institution; and
- its status as a sponsor has not been revoked;
(j) where the United States is the subject-matter jurisdiction, a Belgian financial institution that is a mechanism for placing a few sponsored shareholders meeting the following requirements:
i. the financial institution is a financial institution solely because it is an investment entity and is not an authorized intermediary, a foreign deduction corporation or a foreign trust that has been deducted under the applicable United States Treasury Regulations provisions;
ii. the sponsoring entity is an American reporting financial institution, a Model 1 reporting IFE or a participating IFE, and is authorized to act on behalf of the financial institution (e.g. as a professional manager, trustee or manager partner), and undertakes to carry out, on behalf of the financial institution, all procedures for due diligence, deduction to the source, reporting and other procedures that the financial institutionac
iii. the financial institution does not present itself as an investment agency for unrelated parties;
iv. a maximum of twenty persons hold all receivables and equity securities of the financial institution (without the debt securities held by participating IFEs and deemed IFEs in compliance or the securities held by an entity if it holds 100 per cent of the securities held in the financial institution and is itself a sponsored financial institution described in this subparagraph (j); and
v. the sponsoring entity meets the following requirements:
- it is registered as a sponsoring entity to the IRS on the IRS website for registration relating to the FATCA Act;
- it agrees to carry out, on behalf of the financial institution, all obligations of diligence, deduction to the source, declaration and other obligations that it would be required to fulfil if it were a Belgian financial institution, and retains the documents collected in connection with the financial institution for a period of six years;
- it indicates the name of the financial institution in all documents filled in the name of the financial institution; and
- its status as a sponsor has not been revoked;
(k) where the United States is the subject-matter, an investment entity established in Belgium that is a financial institution only because:
- it gives advice on placement, and acts on behalf of, or
- it manages portfolios for, and acts on behalf of a client for the purpose of investing, managing or administering funds deposited on behalf of the client to a financial institution other than a non-participating financial institution.
3. The term "public entity" refers to the government of a jurisdiction, a political subdivision of a jurisdiction or any institution or organization wholly owned by these entities. This category includes integral parts and controlled entities of a jurisdiction. It covers, among other things, the Belgian government, the political subdivisions of Belgium (including the State, the Communities, the Regions, the provinces, the administrative districts and the municipalities) and any institution or organization wholly owned by these entities:
(a) An "integral party" means any person, organization, agency, office, fund, legal person or other body, regardless of its designation, who constitutes a governing authority of the jurisdiction. The net income of the governing authority must be credited to his or her own account or other accounts of the jurisdiction, and no portion of that income may be related to a private person. An integral part excludes any person who is a director, official or administrator acting in a private or personal capacity.
(b) A "controlled entity" means a separate entity or a legally separate entity, provided that:
i. the entity is wholly owned and controlled by one or more public entities, directly or through one or more controlled entities;
ii. the entity's net income is credited to its own account or to the accounts of one or more public entities, and no portion of that income may echo a private person; and
iii. the assets of the entity return to one or more public entities when it is dissolved.
(c) Income does not affect private individuals if they are intended beneficiaries of a public program, and if the activities covered by this program are carried out for the general public in the general interest or relate to the administration of a part of the government. Notwithstanding the foregoing, income is considered to be collected by private individuals if it comes from the use of a public entity for the purpose of carrying on business, as banking services to businesses, which provides financial benefits to private individuals.
4. The term "international organization" means an international organization or any institution or organization wholly owned by that organization. This category includes any intergovernmental organization (including a supranational organization):
(a) consisting mainly of Governments;
(b) that has entered into a siege agreement or substantially similar agreement with Belgium; and
(c) whose income does not affect private persons.
5. The expression "Central Bank" means the National Bank of Belgium.
6. The term " broad-based pension funds" means a fund established to pay pension, disability or death benefits, or a combination of them, to beneficiaries who are current employees or former employees (or persons designated by these employees) of one or more employers for services rendered, provided that the fund:
(a) is not characterized by the existence of a single beneficiary with a right over 5% of the assets of the fund;
(b) is subject to public regulation and communicates information to tax authorities; and
(c) meets at least one of the following requirements:
i. the fund is generally exempted from the investment income tax, or the taxation of such income is deferred or reduced, under its pension or pension plan status;
ii. the fund receives at least 50% of the total of its contributions (with the exception of transfers of assets from other plans referred to in paragraphs 6 to 8 of this section B or the pension and pension accounts described in subsection 15(a) of section C of the employers who finance it;
iii. Payments or withdrawals of the fund are authorized only when the events provided for in connection with retirement, disability or death (with the exception of transfers to other pension funds referred to in paragraphs 6 to 8 of this section B or the pension and pension accounts described in subparagraph (a), section C, subsection 15 or if any penalties apply to payments or withdrawals made prior to over or
iv. the contributions (with the exception of certain authorized contributions) of the employees in the fund are limited by reference to the employee's income of activity or may not exceed US$ 50,000 per year, by applying the rules regarding the aggregation of the balances of accounts and the monetary conversion set out in section C of Part V of Appendix II with respect to the United States and section E of Part V of Annex III with respect to the declarations submitted to the other jurisdiction
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the term "a broad-based pension fund" includes a pension fund established to provide benefits not only to beneficiaries who are current or former employees (or persons designated by these employees) but also to self-employed persons, provided that the fund meets the other conditions set out above.
7. The term "Small-Party Pension Fund" means a fund established to pay pension, disability or death benefits to beneficiaries who are current or former employees (or persons designated by these employees) of one or more employers for services rendered, provided that:
(a) the fund has fewer than 50 members;
(b) the fund is financed by one or more employers who are not investment entities or passive FRFs (or passive EENFs where the United States is the reporting jurisdiction);
(c) the salary and employer contributions to the fund (with the exception of transfers of pension and pension account assets referred to in subsection 15 (a) of section C) are limited by reference, respectively, to the employee's income of activity and remuneration;
(d) Members who are not resident in the jurisdiction where the fund is established may not hold more than 20 per cent of the assets of the fund; and
(e) the fund is subject to public regulation and communicates information to tax authorities.
8. The term " pension funds of a public entity, an international organization or a central bank" means a fund consisting of a public entity, an international organization or a central bank to pay pension, disability or death benefits to beneficiaries or members who are current employees or former employees (or persons designated by these employees), or who are not current employees or former employees, if
9. The term "registered credit card issuer" means a financial institution that meets the following criteria:
(a) the financial institution enjoys this status only because it is a credit card issuer who accepts deposits on the sole basis that a customer makes a payment whose amount exceeds the balance due to the card and that the excess is not immediately returned to the client; and
(b) no later than 1^er July 2014, for the United States, 1^er January 2016, in respect of another Member State of the European Union, and no later than the date provided by Royal Decree for other jurisdictions subject to declaration, the financial institution shall implement rules and procedures to prevent a customer from making an excess payment of more than US$ 50,000 or to an equivalent amount in EUR, or to ensure that any excess payment of that amount is refunded to the client within a period of 60 days, applying To this end, a customer's excess payment excludes credit balances due to contested costs but includes credit balances resulting from merchandise returns.
10. The term "collective placement organization exempted" means a regulated investment entity as a collective investment organization, provided that the participation in that organization is wholly owned by or via one or more entities described in paragraph 2 of this section B, or by individuals or entities that are not persons to be reported. This term also refers to alternative collective investment organizations with varying number of institutional units whose list is established on the basis of Article 3 of the Royal Decree of 7 December 2007 relating to collective investment organizations with varying number of institutional units that have exclusive purpose the collective placement in the class of investments authorized in Article 7, paragraph 1^er2° of the Act of 20 July 2004.
A regulated investment entity as a collective investment agency does not escape the status of a collective investment organization exempted from the fact that the collective investment organization issued material securities to the bearer, provided that:
(a) the collective investment agency has not issued and does not issue material titles to the holder after 31 December 2012 with respect to the United States, on 31 December 2015 with respect to another Member State of the European Union and after the date provided by Royal Decree for other jurisdictions subject to declaration;
(b) the collective investment organization withdraws all of these securities upon assignment;
(c) the collective investment organization shall carry out the due diligence procedures set out in Appendix II with respect to the United States and Annex III with respect to other reporting jurisdictions and shall transmit all information that must be disclosed in respect of such securities where such securities are submitted for redemption or other payment; and
(d) the collective investment organization has established rules and procedures that ensure that these securities are redeemed or immobilized as soon as possible, and in any case before 1^er January 2017 with respect to the United States, before 1^er January 2018 with respect to another EU Member State and before the date fixed by Royal Decree with respect to other jurisdictions subject to declaration.
C. FINANCIAL RECORD
1. The term "financial account" refers to an account maintained by a financial institution and includes: a deposit account, a account and:
a) in the case of an investment entity, any title of participation or receivable deposited with the financial institution. Notwithstanding the above, the term "financial account" does not refer to a title of participation or receivable deposited with an entity that is an investment entity solely because it
i. gives investment advice to a customer, and acts on behalf of a client, or
ii. manages portfolios for a client, and acts on behalf of the client, for the purpose of investing, managing or administering financial assets deposited on behalf of the client to a financial institution other than that entity;
(b) in the case of a Belgian financial institution not referred to in subparagraph (a) above, any title of participation or receivable in that institution if the class of titles in question has been created in order to avoid the obligations set out in this Act; and
(c) any insurance contract with a redemption value and any annuity contract entered into or managed by a Belgian financial institution other than a life annuity whose performance is immediate, which is inceivable and not related to an investment, that is paid to a natural person and that corresponds to a pension or disability pension collected in an account that is an excluded account.
For the purposes of sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of this paragraph 1, the term "any title of participation or receivable" does not cover securities that are the subject of regular transactions in a regulated stock market where the United States is the jurisdiction subject to declaration. A title is considered to be subject to "regular transactions" if there is, on a continuous basis, a significant volume of transactions with these securities, and a "regulated stock market" means a market officially recognized and controlled by a government authority of the State in which it is located and on which a significant value of securities is negotiated annually. Participation in a financial institution is not the subject of regular transactions if the holder of such participation (other than a financial institution acting as an intermediary) is registered in the name of the financial institution. The previous sentence does not apply to pre-registered shares in the Register of Named Titles of the Financial Institution before 1^er July 2014, and with respect to the entries in this same register from 1^er July 2014, a financial institution is not required to apply the previous sentence before 1^er January 2016.
For the purposes of sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph 1, where the United States is the subject-mattered jurisdiction, the term "financial account" covers any title of participation or receivable (other than securities that are the subject of regular transactions in a regulated stock market) in that institution only if:
- the value of the title of participation or receivable is calculated, directly or indirectly, mainly from assets that give rise to payments that have their source in the United States and if
- the category of titles in question has been created to avoid obligations under the law.
The term "financial account" does not include any account that is an excluded account.
2. The term "deposit account" includes all commercial accounts, accounts, savings or term accounts and accounts whose existence is attested to by a deposit certificate, a savings certificate, an investment certificate, a debt title or another similar instrument with a financial institution in the usual context of a banking or similar activity. Deposit accounts also include amounts held by insurance companies under a guaranteed investment contract or a similar contract to which interest is paid or credited to the licensee.
3. The term "count-titles" (preservative account) means an account (excluding an insurance contract or an annuity contract) opened for the benefit of another person and on which one or more financial assets are listed.
4. The term "title of participation" means, in the case of a partnership that is a financial institution, any participation in the capital or profits of that corporation. In the case of a trust that is a financial institution, a "title of participation" is deemed to be held by any person considered to be the constituent (settlor) or the beneficiary of all or part of the trust or by any other natural person ultimately exercising effective control over the trust. A person to be the subject of a statement is considered to be the beneficiary of a trust if the trust has the right to benefit, directly or indirectly (through a name (name), for example) from a mandatory or discretionary distribution on the part of the trust.
5. The term "insurance contract" means a contract (with the exception of an annuity contract) whereby the insurer undertakes to pay a sum of money in the event of a particular risk, including death, illness, accident, civil liability or material damage.
6. The term "annuity contract" means a contract by which the insurer undertakes to make payments for a certain period of time, which is determined in whole or in part by the life expectancy of one or more natural persons. This term also includes any contract considered as an annuity contract by law, regulation or practice of the jurisdiction in which the contract was established, and in which the insurer undertakes to make payments for several years.
7. The term "purchase-value insurance contract" means an insurance contract (excluding a reinsurance contract between two insurance companies) that has a redemption value.
For the purposes of this section C, where the United States is the subject-to-report jurisdiction, the term "purchase-value insurance contract" means only an insurance contract (excluding a reinsurance contract between two insurance companies) with a redemption value greater than US$50,000.
8. The term "purchase value" means the highest of the following two amounts:
- the amount that the insurance contract subscriber is entitled to receive in case of redemption or termination of the contract (calculated without deduction of any redemption costs or advances);
- the amount that the insurance contract subscriber may borrow under the contract or in respect of its object.
Notwithstanding the above, the term "purchase value" does not include an amount due under an insurance contract:
- only because of the death of a person insured under a life insurance contract;
- indemnification of bodily harm, illness or economic loss incurred in the event of an insured risk;
- in respect of the repayment to the subscriber of a previously paid premium (less the cost of insurance expenses whether or not they are imposed) in the context of an insurance contract (with the exception of a life insurance contract or an investment-related annuity contract) due to the cancellation or termination of the contract, a reduction in the exposure to the risk
- in respect of the participation in the profits of the insurer of the insurance contract (with the exception of the dividends paid during the termination of the contract) provided that it relates to an insurance contract under which the only benefits due are those set out in subparagraph (b) above; or
- for the return of an advance premium or a premium deposit for an insurance contract whose premium is payable at least once a year if the amount of the advance premium or premium deposit does not exceed the amount of the contract premium due under the following year.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, where the United States is the subject-matter, the term "purchase value" does not include an amount due under an insurance contract as follows:
- compensation for injury, illness or economic loss incurred in the event of an insured risk;
- the refund to the subscriber of a previously paid premium under an insurance contract (with the exception of a life insurance contract) due to the cancellation or termination of the contract, a decrease in exposure to the risk during the period in which the insurance contract is in effect or resulting from a new calculation of the accountant premium made necessary by the correction of another error or
- participation in the result due to the subscriber of the insurance contract according to the coverage of the risk of the contract or the group of contracts concerned.
9. The term "pre-existing account" means:
(a) a financial account managed by a financial institution reporting as at 30 June 2014 with respect to the United States, as at 31 December 2015 with respect to another Member State of the European Union and the date provided for by Royal Decree for other reporting jurisdictions;
(b) any financial account of an account holder, regardless of the date on which the financial account was opened, if:
i. the account holder also holds a financial account within the reporting financial institution (or from a related entity that is also a reporting financial institution) that is a pre-existing account under subparagraph 9 (a);
ii. the reporting financial institution (and, where applicable, the related entity) shall consider the two above-mentioned financial accounts, and all other accounts of the account holder that are considered to be pre-existing accounts in accordance with this subparagraph (b), as a single financial account for the purposes of meeting the rules set out in Appendix II, with respect to the United States, and Appendix III, with respect to the balances submitted to the financial statements,
iii. with respect to a financial account subject to the procedures for identifying clients and combating laundering (AML/KYC), the reporting financial institution is authorized to apply to the financial account procedures for identifying clients and combating laundering (AML/KYC) applied to the pre-existing account described in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph 9;
iv. the opening of the financial account does not impose on the account holder the provision of new, additional or amended "client" information for purposes other than those of the law.
10. The term "new account" means an open financial account with a reporting financial institution from 1^er July 2014 for the United States, 1^er January 2016 with respect to another EU Member State, and from the date provided for by Royal Decree for other reporting jurisdictions, unless the financial account is treated as a pre-existing account in accordance with paragraph 9 (b) of this section C.
11. The term "pre-existing physical person account" means a pre-existing account held by one or more physical persons.
12. The term "new physical account" means a new account held by one or more physical persons.
13. The term "pre-existing entity account" means a pre-existing account held by one or more entities.
14. The term "new entity account" means a new account held by one or more entities.
15. The term "excluded account" means one or more of the following accounts:
(a) A pension or pension account that meets the following criteria under Belgian law:
i. the account is regulated as a personal pension account or is part of an approved or regulated pension or pension plan that provides for the payment of pension or pension benefits (including disability or death);
ii. the account receives favourable tax treatment (payments that would normally be subject to tax under Belgian laws are deductible or excluded from the gross income of the account holder or are imposed at a reduced rate, or the taxation of the investment income generated by the account is deferred or the investment income is taxed at a reduced rate);
iii. account information must be communicated to the tax authorities at least once a year;
iv. withdrawals are possible only from the age set for retirement, disability or death, or withdrawals made before such events are subject to penalties; and
v. (i) annual contributions are limited to US$ 50,000 or less (or the equivalent amount expressed in euros), or
(ii) a ceiling of US$ 1,000,000 or less (or the equivalent amount expressed in euros) applies to the total contributions paid in the life of the subscriber,
by following each time the rules for the aggregation of accounts balances and monetary conversion set out in section C of Part V of Appendix II with respect to the United States and section E of Part V of Appendix III with respect to other reporting jurisdictions.
A financial account that, for the rest, meets the criteria set out in this subparagraph (a) may not be considered to meet the requirements set out in subparagraph (a) or (b) of this subsection 15 or of one or more pension funds or pension funds that meet the requirements set out in subsections 6 to (b) of this subsection 15 or of one or more pension funds or pension funds that meet the requirements set out in subsections 6 to. This category includes:
- pensions related to occupational activity undertaken by the employer or the independent worker as defined in or for the purposes of Belgian legislation:
- the Act of 28 April 2003 on supplementary pensions and the tax system of supplementary pensions and certain additional social security benefits;
- the Programme Law of 24 December 2002 on Supplementary Pensions for Independents;
- Title 4 of the Act of 15 May 2014 on various provisions relating to the supplementary pension for business leaders;
- Coordinated Act of 14 July 1994 on compulsory health care insurance and allowances;
- Articles 43 to 61, 71 and 77 of the Royal Decree of 14 November 2003 on life insurance activity;
- articles 34, 52, 3°, b, 52, 7° bis, 59, 145¹, 1°, 145³ and 195 of the Income Tax Code 1992.
All such pensions related to occupational activity are excluded accounts, even if the above criteria under (a) v. are not met because these pensions are subject to equivalent criteria under Belgian law.
- pension savings accounts or life insurance contracts for the purposes of sections 145¹, 5° and 145⁸ to 145¹⁶ the Income Tax Code 1992;
- long-term savings products for the application of items 145¹, 2 ° and 145⁴ Income Tax Code 1992.
(b) A non-retirement account that meets the following criteria:
i. the account is regulated as an investment carrier for purposes other than retirement and is subject to regular transactions in a regulated stock market, or is regulated as a savings carrier for purposes other than retirement;
ii. the account receives favourable tax treatment (payments that would normally be subject to tax are deductible or excluded from the gross income of the account holder or are taxed at a reduced rate, or the taxation of the investment income generated by the account is deferred or the investment income is taxed at a reduced rate);
iii. withdrawals are conditioned to meet certain criteria related to the purpose of the investment or savings account (e.g., the payment of education or medical benefits), or penalties apply to withdrawals made before these criteria are met; and
iv. the annual contributions are capped to US$50,000 or less (or the equivalent amount expressed in euros) by applying the rules regarding the aggregation of accounts balances and the monetary conversion set out in section C of Part V of Appendix II with respect to the United States and section E of Part V of Appendix III with respect to other reporting jurisdictions.
A financial account that, for the rest, meets the criteria set out in this subparagraph (b) may not be considered to meet the requirements set out in subparagraph (a) or (b) of this subsection 15 or of a pension fund or pension fund that meets the requirements set out in subsection 8(a) or (b) of this subsection 15 or of a pension fund or pension fund that meets the requirements set out in paragraphs 6.
(c) A life insurance contract whose coverage period ends before the insured reaches the age of 90, provided that the contract meets the following requirements:
i. periodic premiums, the amount of which remains constant over the period, are due at least once a year during the period of existence of the contract or until the insured reaches the age of 90, if the period is shorter;
ii. it is not possible for anyone to benefit from contractual benefits (by withdrawal, loan or other) without termination of the contract;
iii. the amount (other than a death benefit) payable upon cancellation or termination of the contract may not exceed the total of the premiums paid for the contract, deducting the cost of mortality, morbidity and exploitation (whether or not imposed) for the period or periods of existence of the contract and any amount paid before the cancellation or termination of the contract; and
iv. the contract is not retained by an expensive assignee.
(d) An account that is held only by a succession if the documentation of this account includes a copy of the deceased's will or death certificate.
(e) An account opened in connection with one of the following acts:
i. a court decision or judgment;
ii. the sale, exchange or lease of real estate or furniture provided that the account meets the following requirements:
(i) the account is financed only by a deposit paid as a deposit of an amount sufficient to guarantee an obligation directly related to the transaction, or by a similar payment, or is financed by a Financial Asset registered in the account in connection with the sale, exchange or lease of the property;
(ii) the account is opened and used only to ensure the buyer's obligation to pay the purchase price of the property, the seller to pay any contingent liabilities, or the lessor or lessee to take charge of any damage related to the property leased under the provisions of the lease;
(iii) the assets of the account, including the income it generates, shall be paid or paid to the buyer, seller, lessor or lessee (including to cover its obligations) at the time of the sale, exchange or assignment of the property, or at the expiry of the lease;
(iv) the account is not an account on margin or similar open in connection with a sale or exchange of a Financial Asset; and
(v) the account is not associated with an account described in subparagraph (f) of this paragraph;
iii. an obligation for a Belgian financial institution that manages a loan guaranteed by a property to reserve a portion of a payment only to facilitate the payment of taxes or insurance premiums related to the property;
iv. an obligation for a Belgian financial institution to facilitate the subsequent payment of taxes.
(f) A deposit account that meets the following requirements:
- the account exists only because a customer makes a payment in excess of the balance owing under a credit card or other credit facility and the surplus is not immediately returned to the client; and
- by 1^er January 2016 in respect of a Member State of the European Union or the date provided for by Royal Decree in respect of another reporting jurisdiction, the financial institution shall implement rules and procedures to prevent a client from making an excess payment of more than US$50,000 (or the equivalent amount expressed in euros) or to ensure that any excess payment set out above that amount is refunded to the client within a period of 60 days, by applying To this end, a customer's excess payment excludes credit balances due to contested costs but includes credit balances resulting from merchandise returns.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, a deposit account referred to in this subparagraph (f) is not, as such, an excluded account where the United States is the jurisdiction subject to declaration.
(g) The register of shares, held in accordance with Article 357 of the Corporations Code, and the registers of the shares of the name, the shares of the name and the nominal bonds held in accordance with Article 463 of the same Code.
(h) The participation plans governed by the Act of May 22, 2001 relating to employee participation plans in capital and corporate profits.
(i) Stock-options, as referred to in the Belgian Employment Action Plan 1998 Act of March 26, 1999, and subject to various provisions.
(j) When the United States is the subject-matter jurisdiction, a financial account retained in Belgium and excluded from the definition of a financial account in an agreement between the United States and a partner jurisdiction, provided that the account is submitted in Belgium to the same requirements and to the same monitoring under the legislation of that partner jurisdiction that if the account was established in that partner jurisdiction and maintained by a financial institution of that partner jurisdiction; or
(k) any other account that has a low risk of being used for tax evasion purposes that has substantially similar characteristics to those of the accounts described in subparagraphs (a) to (f) of this paragraph 15 and that is defined by Royal Decree as an excluded account in accordance with the purposes of the law.
D. STATEMENT
1. The term "declarable account" means a financial account which is open to a Belgian financial institution and held by one or more persons to be the subject of a declaration or by a passive ENF (or a passive EENF when the United States is the subject of a declaration) of which one or more persons holding control of it are persons to be the subject of a declaration, provided that they are identified as due diligence in accordance with the procedures
2. The term "person to be the subject of a declaration" means a person of a jurisdiction subject to a declaration other than:
(i) any corporation whose securities are the subject of regular transactions in one or more regulated stock markets;
(ii) any corporation that is an entity related to a corporation described in (i);
(iii) a public entity;
(iv) an international organization;
(v) a Central Bank; or
(vi) a financial institution.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, when the United States is the subject of a declaration, the term "person to be the subject of a declaration" means an American person who is not
(i) a corporation whose securities are the subject of regular transactions in one or more regulated stock markets;
(ii) a corporation that is a member of the same expanded group of related companies, as defined in section 1471(e)(2) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, that a corporation referred to in (i) above;
(iii) the United States or any public legal entity attached to them;
(iv) any State of the United States, any United States Territory, any political subdivision of the United States or any public legal entity attached to them;
(v) any tax-exempt organization pursuant to section 501 (a) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code or any personal pension plan within the meaning of section 7701 (a) (37) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code;
(vi) any bank within the meaning of section 581 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code;
(vii) any real estate investment funds within the meaning of section 856 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code;
(viii) any regulated investment company within the meaning given to the expression "regulated investment company" in section 851 of the Internal Revenue Code or any entity registered with the Securities Exchange Commission pursuant to the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-64);
(ix) any collective investment funds within the meaning of section 584(a) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code;
(x) any exempt tax trust under section 664 (c) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code or referred to in section 4947 (a) (1) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code;
(xi) any securities dealer, goods or derivative financial instruments (including notional contracts, term contracts and options) that is registered as such in U.S. federal law or in the legislation of one of the Federated States;
(xii) any broker within the meaning of section 6045 (c) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code;
(xiii) any exempt tax trust under a device referred to in section 403 (b) or 457 (g) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
The term "American person" means a natural person who is a citizen or a resident of the United States, a partnership or a corporation created in the United States or under federal law of the United States, or a trust if:
(i) a court in the United States would, according to law, have the power to make orders or judgments regarding substantially all matters relating to the administration of the trust and if
(ii) one or more natural persons, corporations or corporations to be reported shall enjoy a right of control over all substantive decisions of the trust, or the succession of a deceased who was a citizen or resident of the United States.
3. The term "person of a court subject to declaration" means a natural person or entity established in a court subject to declaration under the tax law of that jurisdiction, or the succession of a deceased who resided in a court subject to declaration. To this end, an entity such as a partnership, a limited liability corporation or a similar legal structure that does not have a residence for the purposes of tax legislation must be considered to be established in the jurisdiction where its effective headquarters is located.
4. The term "jurisdiction" means a country or territory.
5. The term "jurisdiction subject to declaration" means another Member State of the European Union, the United States or another jurisdiction with which Belgium has entered into an Administrative Agreement and which is included in a published list.
6. The term "partner jurisdiction", under a jurisdiction subject to declaration, means:
(a) any other Member State of the European Union; or
(b) any other jurisdiction
i. with which the court referred to has entered into an agreement that provides for the obligation of that other jurisdiction to communicate the information referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 4 of this Act, and
ii. which is included in a list published by the jurisdiction subject to declaration and notified to the European Commission;
(c) any other jurisdiction
i. with which the European Union has entered into an agreement which provides for the obligation of that other jurisdiction to communicate the information referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 4 of this Law, and
ii. which appears in a list published by the European Commission.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the term "partner jurisdiction", in the United States, refers to a jurisdiction that actually has an agreement with the United States with a view to facilitating the implementation of the FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) American law and is included in a list published by the American Tax Administration.
7. The term "persons holding control" means natural persons who exercise control over an entity. In the case of a trust, the term refers to the constituent(s) (settlors), the trustee(s), the person(s) responsible for overseeing the trustee (protectors) where applicable, the beneficiary(s) or the beneficiary(s), and any other natural person exercising in the last place an effective control over the trust and, in the case of a legal construction that is not a trust, the expression designates persons The term "persons holding control" should be interpreted in accordance with the FATF Recommendations.
E. OTHER BUSINESS
1. The term "account holder" means the person registered or identified as the holder of a financial account by the financial institution that manages the account. A person, other than a financial institution, holding a financial account on behalf of or for the benefit of another person as an agent, depositary, name-name, signatory, investment advisor or intermediary, is not considered to hold the account for the purposes of the law, and that other person is considered to have the account. In the case of an insurance contract with a redemption value or an annuity contract, the account holder is any person authorized to take advantage of the redemption value or to change the name of the contract beneficiary. If no one can take advantage of the redemption value or change the name of the beneficiary, the account holder is the person designated as a beneficiary in the contract and the person who enjoys an absolute right to payments under the contract. On the expiry of an insurance contract with a redemption value or an annuity contract, each person who is entitled to receive an amount under the contract is considered an account holder.
When the United States is the subject-matter jurisdiction for the second sentence of this paragraph, the term "financial institution" does not include any financial institution incorporated or registered in the territory of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the United States Virgin Islands.
2. The term "procedures to identify customers and combat laundering (AML/KYC)" refers to due diligence procedures with respect to its clients that the reporting financial institution is required to observe under the anti-laundering provisions or similar rules to which the institution is subject in accordance with Belgian law (AML/KYC).
3. The term "entity" means a legal entity or construction, such as a capital corporation, a partnership, a trust or foundation.
4. An entity is a "related entity" to another entity if
- one of the two entities controls the other;
- both entities are under joint control; or
- both entities are investment entities defined in sub-paragraph (b) of section A, paragraph 10, under a joint management authority and that direction meets the due diligence obligations of these investment entities. As such, control includes direct or indirect detention of more than 50% of the voting rights or the value of an entity.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, where the United States is the subject-matter jurisdiction, Belgium may consider that an entity is not an entity bound by another entity if the two entities are not members of the same expanded group of affiliates within the meaning of section 1471 (e), (2) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
5. The term "NIF" means the tax identification number of the subject jurisdiction (or its functional equivalent in the absence of a tax identification number).
6. When the United States is the jurisdiction subject to declaration, the term "non-participating financial institution" means a non-participating foreign financial institution ("IFE") within the meaning of the regulations enacted by the Treasury of the United States, but excludes any Belgian financial institution and any financial institution of a partner jurisdiction other than a financial institution treated by the United States as a non-participating financial institution for which a competent breach of the obligations of declaration or due diligence lost
7. When the U.S. is the subject-matter jurisdiction, the term "Model IF" means a financial institution in respect of which a non-U.S. government or a public legal entity of the latter undertakes to obtain and exchange information in accordance with a Model 1 IGA, other than a financial institution considered to be a non-participating financial institution under Model 1 IGA. For the purposes of this definition, the term Model 1 IGA means an agreement between the United States or the Treasury Department and a non-American government, or one or more public legal entities of the latter, to implement the FATCA American law by means of statements made by financial institutions to that non-American government or to a public legal entity of the latter, followed by an automatic exchange with the IRS of information.
8. When the United States is the subject-matter jurisdiction, the term "participating EFI" means a financial institution that has agreed to comply with the requirements of an IFE agreement, including a financial institution described in Model 2 IGA that has agreed to comply with the requirements of an IFE agreement. The term participating EFI also includes a qualified intermediate branch of an American reporting financial institution, unless that branch is a Model 1 reporting EFI. For the purposes of this definition, the term IFE agreement means an agreement that sets out the obligations to be fulfilled by a financial institution to be considered to meet the requirements of section 1471 (b) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. In addition, for the purposes of this definition, the term Model 2 IGA refers to an agreement between the United States or the Treasury Department and a non-American government, or one or more public legal entities of the latter, to facilitate the implementation of the FATCA law by means of statements made by financial institutions directly to the U.S. Tax Administration (IRS), in accordance with the requirements of an IFE agreement, in addition to an exchange of a non-American public authority
9. Where the United States is the subject-matter jurisdiction, notwithstanding the definitions in this Annex I, a reporting financial institution may use a definition of the relevant regulations enacted by the United States Treasury in place of a corresponding definition of this Annex, provided that this use does not contravene the purpose of this Act regulating the disclosure of information relating to financial accounts, by Belgian financial institutions

Annex II: Standard of due diligence applicable where the United States is the jurisdiction subject to declaration
For the purposes of this Act, instead of the procedures described in each part of this Annex II, the reporting financial institutions may apply the procedures set out in the corresponding US Treasury regulations to determine whether an account is a declarable account or an account held by a non-participating financial institution. Reporting financial institutions may make this election separately for each part of this Appendix II, either in respect of all relevant financial accounts, or separately, in relation to a clearly identified group of accounts (e.g. by business sectors or in respect of the place of account).
Part I. Due diligence procedures for the accounts of pre-existing natural persons
The following procedures apply for the identification of declarable accounts among the accounts of pre-existing natural persons.
A. Accounts not subject to examination, identification or declaration.
Unless the reporting financial institution decides otherwise, either in respect of all accounts of pre-existing natural persons or separately, in relation to a clearly identified group of accounts, it is not necessary to examine, identify or report the accounts of the following pre-existing natural persons as declarable accounts:
1. Subject to section E, paragraph 2, of this Part I, a pre-existing physical person account whose balance or value does not exceed US$50,000 as at 30 June 2014.
2. Subject to section E, paragraph 2, of this Part I, a pre-existing physical person account that is an insurance contract with a redemption value or an annuity contract whose balance or value does not exceed US$250,000 as at June 30, 2014.
3. An account of pre-existing natural persons who is an insurance contract with a redemption value or an annuity contract to the extent that the legislation or regulations in force in Belgium or the United States are opposed to the sale of insurance contracts with a redemption value or annuity contract to persons who are residents of the United States (e.g. when the financial institution concerned does not have the required registration in American law, and that the Belgian law
4. A deposit account with a balance not exceeding US$ 50,000.
B. Low-value accounts.
The following procedures apply to the accounts of pre-existing natural persons whose balance or value as at June 30, 2014 is greater than US$ 50,000 (US$ 250,000 for an insurance contract with a redemption value or annuity contract), but does not exceed US$ 1,000,000 ("low-value accounts")
1. Electronic search.
The reporting financial institution must review the data it holds and that may be searched electronically to detect one or more of the following U.S. indices:
(a) identification of the account holder as a U.S. citizen or resident;
(b) unambiguous indication of a birthplace in the United States;
(c) current posting or home address in the United States (including an American posting box);
(d) current telephone number in the United States;
(e) standing transfer order on an account managed in the United States;
(f) proxy or signature delegation that is valid for a person whose address is located in the United States; or
(g) address bearing the mention "to the attention of" or "remaining position" that is the sole address of the account holder registered in the file of the Belgian financial institution. In the case of a pre-existing physical person account that is a low-value account, an address bearing the mention "to the attention of" located outside the United States or a "poste remaining" address is not an American index.
2. If the electronic data review does not reveal any of the U.S. indices listed in section B, paragraph 1, of this Part I, no new approach is required until a change of circumstances occurs and the result is that one or more U.S. indices are associated with this account, or that this account becomes a high value account as described in section D of this Part I.
3. If the electronic data review reveals one of the U.S. indices listed in section B, paragraph 1, of this Part I, or if a change of circumstances occurs that results in one or more U.S. indices associated with this account, the reporting financial institution must consider the account as a declarable account, unless it chooses to apply section B, paragraph 4, of this Part I and one of the exceptions to that account.
4. Notwithstanding the discovery of U.S. indices under section B, paragraph 1, of this Part I, a reporting financial institution is not required to consider an account as a declarable account if:
(a) where the information on the account holder clearly includes the indication of a place of birth in the United States, the reporting financial institution obtains, or has previously reviewed and retained, a copy of the following documents:
i. a self-certification that the account holder is neither a citizen nor a tax resident of the United States (established on the W-8 form of the IRS or another approved similar form);
ii. a non-American passport or other identity document issued by a public authority certifying that the nationality or citizenship of the account holder is not American; and
iii. a copy of the certificate of loss of American nationality established for the account holder or the valid reason for which:
- the account holder does not have such a certificate while renouncing American citizenship, or
- the account holder did not obtain American citizenship at birth.
(b) where the account holder information includes a current postal or residence address in the United States, or, as the only telephone numbers associated with the account, one or more telephone numbers in the United States, the reporting financial institution obtains, or has previously reviewed and maintained, a copy of the following documents:
i. a self-certification that indicates that the account holder is neither a citizen nor a tax resident of the United States (established on the W-8 form of the IRS or another approved similar form); and
ii. a supporting document referred to in section D of Part V of this Appendix II, which states that the account holder is not a citizen or an American resident.
(c) where the account holder information includes a standing transfer order on an account managed in the United States, the reporting financial institution obtains, or has previously reviewed and retains a copy of the following documents:
i. a self-certification that indicates that the account holder is neither a citizen nor a tax resident of the United States (established on the W-8 form of the IRS or another approved similar form); and
ii. a supporting document referred to in section D of Part V of this Appendix II, proving that the account holder is neither a citizen nor an American resident.
(d) where the information on the account holder includes a valid proxy or signature delegation granted to a person whose address is in the United States, an address bearing the mention "to the attention of" or "remaining post" as the only address known to the account holder, or one or more telephone numbers in the United States (other than a non-United States telephone number associated with the account), the financial institution that has previously examined shall obtain,
i. a self-certification that indicates that the account holder is not a citizen or a tax resident of the United States (established on the W-8 form of the IRS or another registered analog form), or
ii. a supporting document, referred to in section D of Part V of this Appendix II, proving that the account holder is neither a citizen nor an American resident.
C. Additional procedures for the accounts of pre-existing individuals who are low-value accounts
1. A review of the accounts of pre-existing natural persons who are low-value accounts for U.S. indices must be completed by June 30, 2016.
2. If a change in circumstances with respect to a low-value account occurs and has as a result that one or more of the U.S. indices referred to in section B, paragraph 1, of this Part I are associated with this account, the reporting financial institution shall consider the account as a declarable account unless section B, paragraph 4, of this Part I applies.
3. With the exception of the deposit accounts referred to in section A, paragraph 4, of this Part I, any account of a pre-existing natural person that has been identified as a declarable account in accordance with this Part I is considered to be a declarable account every subsequent year, unless the account holder ceases to be a person to be the subject of a statement.
D. In-depth review procedure for elevee value accounts
The following in-depth examination procedures apply to the accounts of pre-existing natural persons whose balance or value exceeds US$1,000 as of June 30, 2014, or December 31, 2015 or December 31, of any subsequent year ("high value accounts").
1. Electronic data review.
The reporting financial institution must review the data that it holds and that may be searched electronically for the U.S. indices described in section B, paragraph 1, of this Part I.
2. Research in paper files.
If the reporting financial institution's databases that may be examined electronically contain fields that include all the information referred to in section D, paragraph 3, of this Part I and allow the content to be understood, no research in the paper files is required. If this data does not contain all of this information, the reporting financial institution is also required, for a high-value account, to review the client's current main file and, to the extent that this information is not included, the following documents associated with the account and obtained by the Belgian reporting financial institution over the previous five years to search for one of the U.S. indices described in section B, paragraph 1, of this Part I:
(a) most recently collected supporting documents relating to the account;
(b) the most recent contract or the most recent account opening document;
(c) the most recent documentation obtained by the reporting financial institution pursuant to procedures for identifying clients and combating laundering (AML/KYC) or for other legal reasons;
(d) any power of attorney or delegation of signature that is valid; and
(e) any order of permanent transfer that is valid.
3. Exception applicable where electronic databases contain sufficient information.
A reporting financial institution is not required to conduct research in the paper files described in section D, paragraph 2, of this Part I if its information that may be examined electronically includes the following:
(a) the nationality or country of residence of the account holder;
(b) the address of the home and the postal address of the account holder on file with the reporting financial institution;
(c) the telephone number(s) of the account holder appearing on the file of the Belgian financial institution;
(d) a possible order of permanent transfer from the account to another account (including an account from another branch of the reporting financial institution or another financial institution);
(e) a possible address bearing the mention "to the attention of" or "to the remaining position" for the account holder; and
(f) a possible proxy or delegation of signature on the account.
4. Requesting information from the Customer Manager for real account knowledge.
In addition to the research in the information and paper files described above, the reporting financial institution is required to treat as a declarable account any high-value account entrusted to a customer manager (including any financial accounts that are grouped with such a high-value account) if the account holder knows that the account holder is a person to be reported.
5. Consequences of the discovery of American indices
(a) If the in-depth review of the high-value accounts described above does not reveal any of the U.S. indices listed in section B, paragraph 1, of this Part I, and if the application of section D, paragraph 4, of this Part I does not permit the determination that the account is held by a person to be the subject of a statement, no new approach is required until a change of circumstances in the United States, which results in a number of U.S.
(b) If the in-depth review of the high-value accounts described above reveals one of the U.S. indices listed in section B, paragraph 1, of this Part I or in the event of a subsequent change of circumstances that has the effect of combining the account with one or more U.S. indices, the reporting financial institution shall consider the account as a declarable account, unless it chooses to apply section B, paragraph 4, of this Part I and that the account
(c) With the exception of the deposit accounts referred to in section A, paragraph 4, of this Part I, any account of a pre-existing natural person that has been identified as a declarable account under this Part I shall be deemed to be an American declarable account any subsequent years unless the account holder ceases to be a person to be the subject of a statement.
E. Additional procedures for elevee value accounts
1. If, as of June 30, 2014, an account of a pre-existing natural person is a high-value account, the reporting financial institution shall apply to that account the in-depth review procedures described in section D of this Part I by June 30, 2015. If, on the basis of this review, this account is identified as a declarable account by December 31, 2014, the reporting financial institution must provide the information required for 2014 in the first account statement and then on an annual basis. In the case of an account identified as a declarable account after December 31, 2014 and no later than June 30, 2015, the reporting financial institution does not have to provide information related to that account for 2014, but must then provide information on that account on an annual basis.
2. If, as at June 30, 2014, an account of a pre-existing natural person is not a high-value account but becomes at the last day of 2015 or in any subsequent calendar year, the reporting financial institution shall apply to that account the in-depth review procedures described in section D of this Part I within six months after the last day of the calendar year in which the account becomes a high-value account. If, on the basis of this review, it appears that this account is a declarable account, the reporting financial institution must provide the information required for that account for the year in which it is identified as a declarable account, and for the following years on an annual basis, unless the account holder ceases to be a person to be the subject of a statement.
3. After a reporting financial institution has applied the in-depth review procedures described in section D of this Part I to a high-value account, it is no longer required to renew these procedures for that same account in the following years, except for the information provided to the Customer Support Officer described in section D, paragraph 4, of this Part I.
4. If a change in circumstances with respect to a high-value account occurs and has as a result that one or more of the U.S. indices referred to in section B, paragraph 1, of this Part I are associated with that account, the reporting financial institution shall consider the account as a declarable account, unless it chooses to apply section B, paragraph 4, of this Part and if any of the exceptions therein apply to that account.
5. A reporting financial institution is required to implement procedures to ensure that customer managers identify any changes in circumstances related to an account. If, for example, a customer manager is informed that the account holder has a new postal address in the United States, the reporting financial institution must consider this new address as a change of circumstances and, if it chooses to apply section B, paragraph 4, of this Part I, obtain the required documents from the account holder.
F. Accounts of physical persons preexistent documents has other purposes.
A declaring financial institution that has already obtained from an account holder the documents certifying that it is not a citizen or a resident of the United States in order to comply with its obligations as a qualified intermediary, a corporation of foreign persons engaged in the deduction at the source, or a foreign trust engaged in the deduction at the source, or in order to fulfill its obligations in accordance with Chapter 61 of Part 26 of the United States Code, is not held
Part II. Due diligence procedures for new physical accounts.
The following rules and procedures apply for the identification of declarable accounts among the financial accounts held by natural persons and opened from 1^er July 2014 ("new physical accounts").
A. Accounts not submitted for examination, identification or declaration.
Unless the reporting financial institution decides otherwise, either in respect of all new accounts of natural persons or, separately, in relation to a clearly identified group of such accounts, the following new accounts of natural persons are not subject to review, identification or reporting as declarable accounts:
1. A deposit account, unless the balance of the account exceeds US$50,000 at the end of any calendar year or other appropriate reference period.
2. A redemption insurance contract, unless its redemption value exceeds US$50,000 at the end of any calendar year or other appropriate reference period.
B. Other new physical accounts.
In respect of the new accounts of natural persons not covered in section A of this Part II, the reporting financial institution must obtain at the time of the opening of the account (or within 90 days after the end of the calendar year in which the account ceases to meet the conditions set out in section A of this Part II), a self-certification, which may be part of the opening documents of the resident account, which allows it to determine whether the holder
1. If the self-certification determines that the account holder is a tax resident of the United States, the reporting financial institution is required to consider the account as a declarable account and to obtain a self-certification on which the account holder's U.S. NIF (established using the IRS W-9 form or another similar registered form).
2. If a change of circumstances in respect of a new account of a natural person occurs, and therefore the reporting financial institution finds or has reasons to assume that the initial self-certification is inaccurate or unreliable, this institution cannot use this self-certification and must obtain a valid self-certification that specifies whether the account holder is a citizen or a tax resident of the United States. If the reporting financial institution cannot obtain valid certification, it must consider the account as a declarable account.
Part III. Due diligence procedures for pre-existing entity accounts.
The following rules and procedures apply to the identification of declarable accounts and accounts held by non-participating financial institutions in pre-existing accounts held by entities ("pre-existing entity accounts").
A. Entity accounts not submitted for examination, identification or declaration.
Unless the reporting financial institution decides otherwise, either in respect of all accounts of pre-existing entities or, separately, in relation to a clearly identified group of such accounts, a pre-existing entity account whose balance or value does not exceed US$250,000 as of June 30, 2014 does not have to be examined, identified or declared as a declarable entity until its balance or value exceeds US$1,000.
B. Entire accounts submitted for examination.
A pre-existing entity account whose balance or value exceeds US$250,000 as at 30 June 2014 and a pre-existing entity account whose balance or value does not exceed US$250,000 as at 30 June 2014, but whose balance or value exceeds US$1,000 on the last day of 2015 or in any subsequent calendar year, shall be reviewed by applying the procedures described in section D of this Part III.
C. Entity accounts for which a declaration is required.
For the accounts of pre-existing entities referred to in section B of this Part III, only the following accounts are considered to be declarable accounts:
- accounts held by one or more entities that are persons to be reported, or
- accounts held by passive non-financial foreign entities (EENF) of which one or more persons holding control are citizens or U.S. residents.
In addition, accounts held by non-participating financial institutions are considered accounts for which the total payments described in section 3 of section 9 of this Act must be reported to the Belgian competent authority.
D. Examination procedures relating to the identification of accounts for which declarations are required.
For the accounts of pre-existing entities described in section B of this Part III, the reporting financial institution shall apply the following review procedures to determine whether the account is held by one or more persons to be the subject of a statement, by passive EENFs, of which one or more persons holding control of the account are citizens or U.S. residents, or by non-participating financial institutions:
1. Determine whether the entity is a person to be reported.
(a) Review information obtained for regulatory or customer-related purposes (including information collected as part of customer identification and anti-money-laundering procedures (AML/KYC), to determine whether this information indicates that the account holder is an American person. For this purpose, the place of incorporation or creation or an address in the United States is part of the information indicating that the account holder is an American person.
(b) If the information obtained indicates that the account holder is an American person, the reporting financial institution is required to process the account as a declarable account, unless it obtains a self-certification of the account holder (established on Form W-8 or W-9 of the IRS or another similar registered form) or if it determines with sufficient certainty, on the basis of information in his or her possession or that is accessible to the public, that the account holder is not
2. Determine whether an entity that is not an American person is a financial institution.
(a) Consideration of information obtained for regulatory or customer-related purposes [including information collected as part of customer identification and anti-money-laundering procedures (AML/KYC)) is required to determine whether this information indicates that the account holder is a financial institution.
(b) If the information obtained indicates that the account holder is a financial institution, or if the reporting financial institution checks the account holder's identification number (GIIN) on the IFE list published by the IRS, the account is not a declarable account.
3. Determine whether a financial institution is a non-participating financial institution, for which payments it has received are subject to the aggregate declarations provided for in section 3 of section 9 of this Act.
(a) Subject to subparagraph 3 (b) of section D of this Part III, a reporting financial institution may determine that the account holder is a Belgian financial institution or a financial institution of a partner jurisdiction, if the reporting financial institution determines with sufficient certainty that the account holder has that status on the basis of the account holder's identification number (GIIN) on the list of IFEs published by the other institution, or of an accessible possession In this case, no further examination, identification or declaration is required with respect to the account.
(b) If the account holder is a Belgian financial institution or a financial institution of a partner jurisdiction considered by the IRS as a non-participating financial institution, the account is not a declarable account, but the payments made to that account holder must be declared in accordance with section 3 of section 9 of this Act.
(c) If the account holder is not a Belgian financial institution or a financial institution of a partner jurisdiction, the reporting financial institution is required to treat the account holder as a non-participating financial institution for which the payments received are declarable under section 9, paragraph 3, of this Act, unless the reporting financial institution:
i. obtains a self-certification (established on Form W-8 of the IRS or a similar registered form) from the account holder indicating that it is an IFE that is deemed to be in compliance with the FATCA Act or an effective beneficiary exempted from reporting, as defined in the relevant U.S. Treasury regulations, or
ii. checks the account holder's identification number (IMIN) on the list of IFEs published by the IRS, in the case of a participating IFE or a registered IFE that is deemed to be in compliance with the FATCA Act.
4. Determine whether an account held by an EENF is a declarable account.
For the holder of a pre-existing entity account that is not identified as an American person or as a financial institution, the reporting financial institution must determine:
(i) if the account holder is a controlled entity,
(ii) if the account holder is a passive and
(iii) if one of the persons holding control of the account holder is a citizen or resident of the United States.
For this purpose, the reporting financial institution shall follow the guidance referred to in paragraphs 4 (a) to (d) of section D of this Part III in the most appropriate order of the circumstances.
(a) To identify persons holding control of an account entity, the reporting financial institution may rely on information collected and retained as part of the procedures for identifying customers and combating laundering (AML/KYC).
(b) To determine whether the account holder is a passive EENF, the reporting financial institution must obtain a self-certification (using Form W-8 or W-9 of the IRS or a similar registered form) from the account holder to determine its status, unless it determines with sufficient certainty, based on information in its possession or accessible to the public, that the account holder is an active EENF.
(c) To determine whether a person holding control of a passive EENF is a U.S. citizen or tax resident, a reporting financial institution may be based on:
i. information collected and collected pursuant to the procedures for identifying customers and combating laundering (AML/KYC) in the case of a pre-existing entity account held by one or more EENF and whose balance or value does not exceed US$1,000, or
ii. a self-certification (using the form W-8 or W-9 of the IRS or a similar registered form) of the account holder or the person holding control in the case of a pre-existing entity account held by one or more EENF and whose balance or value exceeds US$1,000.
(d) If a person holding control of a passive EENF is an American citizen or resident, the account must be treated as a declarable account.
E. Schedule of implementation of the review and additional procedures applicable to pre-existing accounts
1. A review of pre-existing entity accounts with a balance or value exceeding US$250,000 as at June 30, 2014 must be completed by June 30, 2016.
2. A review of the accounts of pre-existing entities whose balance or value does not exceed US$250,000 as at 30 June 2014, but exceeds US$1,000 as at 31 December 2015 or 31 December of any subsequent year, must be completed within six months after the end of the calendar year in which the balance or value of the account was greater than US$1,000.
3. If a change in circumstances with respect to a pre-existing entity account occurs and is, therefore, that the reporting financial institution knows or has good reasons to assume that the self-certification or any other account-related document is inaccurate or unreliable, that institution must re-examine the status of the account by applying the procedures described in section D of this Part III.
Part IV. Due diligence procedures for new entity accounts.
The following rules and procedures apply to identify declarable accounts as well as accounts held by non-participant financial institutions in the financial accounts held by entities and open as or after 1^er July 2014 ("new entity accounts").
A. Entity accounts not submitted for examination, identification or declaration.
Unless the reporting financial institution decides otherwise, either in respect of all new entity accounts, or separately, in relation to a clearly identified group of accounts, an account used for a credit card or a revolving credit facility considered as a new entity account does not have to be examined, identified or declared, provided that the reporting financial institution that holds such an account implements the rules and procedures due to avoid the exemption
B. Other new entite accounts.
For new entity accounts not described in section A of this Part IV, the reporting financial institution must determine whether the account holder is:
(i) a person to be reported;
(ii) a Belgian financial institution or another partner jurisdiction;
(iii) a participating EFI, a deemed EFI in accordance with the FATCA Act, or an effective beneficiary exempted from reporting, as defined in the relevant U.S. Treasury regulations; or
(iv) an active or passive EENF.
1. Subject to section B, paragraph 2, of this Part IV, a reporting financial institution may establish that the account holder is an active EENF, a Belgian financial institution or a financial institution of a partner jurisdiction, if it determines with sufficient certainty that such is the status of the account holder from its identification number (GIIN)titular or other information accessible to the public or in possession of the reporting financial institution, where applicable.
2. If the account holder is a Belgian financial institution or a financial institution of a partner jurisdiction considered by the IRS as a non-participant financial institution, the account is not a declarable account, but payments made to the account holder must be declared in accordance with the provisions of section 3 of section 9 of this Act.
3. In all other cases, the reporting financial institution must obtain a self-certification of the account holder in order to establish its status. On the basis of self-certification, the following rules apply:
(a) If the account holder is a person to be reported, the reporting financial institution must consider the account as a declarable account.
(b) If the account holder is a passive EENF, the reporting financial institution must identify persons holding control in accordance with the procedures for identifying customers and combating laundering (AML/KYC) and must determine whether one of these persons is a U.S. citizen or resident from a self-certification provided by the account holder or one of those persons. If one of these individuals is a U.S. citizen or resident, the reporting financial institution must treat the account as a declarable account.
(c) If the account holder is
(i) a person not to be declared;
(ii) subject to subparagraph 3 (d) of section B of this Part IV, a Belgian financial institution or an institution of another partner jurisdiction;
(iii) a participating EFI, a deemed EFI in accordance with the FATCA Act or an effective beneficiary exempted from reporting, as defined in the applicable United States Treasury regulations;
(iv) an active EENF; or
(v) a passive EENF of which none of the persons holding control is a citizen or resident of the United States,
the account is not a declarable account and no declaration is required for that account.
(d) If the account holder is a non-participating financial institution (including a Belgian financial institution or a partner jurisdiction that is treated by the IRS as a non-participating financial institution), the account is not a declarable account, but payments made to the account holder must be declared in accordance with section 3 of section 9 of this Act.
Part V. Special due diligence and definitions.
A. Use of self-certifications and supporting documents.
A reporting financial institution cannot rely on a self-certification or a supporting document if it knows or has any place to know that this self-certification or supporting document is inaccurate or unreliable.
B. DEFINITIONS.
1. Procedures to identify clients and combat laundering (AML/KYC).
The term "procedures to identify customers and combat laundering (AML/KYC)" refers to the due diligence procedures that the reporting financial institution is required to observe under the anti-money-laundering provisions or similar Belgian rules to which this institution is subject.
2. EENF.
The term "EENF" (non-financial foreign entity) means any non-American entity that is not an IFE within the meaning of the relevant regulation of the United States Treasury, or any entity described in sub-paragraph (j) of section B of this Part V, and also includes any non-American entity established in the territory of Belgium or another partner jurisdiction and that is not a financial institution.
3. Passive EENF.
The expression "Passive EENF" means any EENF that is not
(i) an active EENF or
(ii) a foreign-owned corporation that has been deducted from the source or a foreign trust that has been deducted from the source in accordance with the relevant United States Treasury regulations.
4. EENF is active.
The term "EENF Active" means any EENF that meets one of the following criteria:
(a) less than 50% of the EENF's gross revenues for the previous calendar year or another appropriate reference accounting period are passive revenues and less than 50% of the assets held by the EENF during the previous calendar year or another appropriate reference accounting period are assets that produce or are held to obtain passive income;
(b) EENF shares are subject to regular transactions in a regulated stock market or EENF is an entity related to an entity whose shares are the subject of regular transactions in a regulated stock market;
(c) The EENF is incorporated in the territory of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the United States Virgin Islands and all the owners of the beneficiary of the payments actually reside in those Territories;
(d) EENF is a government (other than the U.S. government), a political subdivision of such a government (assuming that the term includes a state, province, county or municipality), or a public entity performing the functions of such a government or subdivision, the Government of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the United States Virgin Islands, an international organization, a non-United States bank
(e) The activities of the EENF consist essentially of holding (in whole or in part) shares issued by one or more subsidiaries whose activities are not those of a financial institution, or proposing financing or services to these subsidiaries. An entity may not claim that status if it operates (or is present) as an investment fund, such as an investment capital fund, a venture capital fund, a debt-to-debt business repurchase fund or any other investment organization whose purpose is to acquire or finance companies and then hold investments in the form of financial assets for investment purposes;
(f) The EENF has not yet been active and has never been active before but invests capital in assets to carry out an activity other than that of a financial institution, provided that this exception cannot apply to the EENF after the expiry of a period of 24 months after the date of its original constitution;
(g) EENF was not a financial institution during the previous five years and proceeds to the liquidation of its assets or is being restructured to continue or resume transactions or activities that are not those of a financial institution;
(h) The EENF focuses on the financing of related entities that are not financial institutions and coverage transactions with or on behalf of them and does not provide funding or coverage services to entities that are not related entities, provided that the group to which these related entities belong is primarily engaged in an activity that is not that of a financial institution;
(i) EENF is an "excluded EENF" (except NFFE) in accordance with applicable United States Treasury Regulations; or
(j) The EENF meets all the following conditions:
i. is established and operated in its jurisdiction of residence exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, artistic, cultural, sporting or educational purposes; or is established and operated in its jurisdiction of residence and is a professional federation, a employers' organization, a business chamber, a trade union, agricultural or horticultural organization, civic or an organization whose exclusive purpose is to promote social well-being;
ii. is exempt from corporate tax in its jurisdiction;
iii. it has no shareholder or any member with a right of ownership or enjoyment on its income or assets;
iv. the law applicable in the jurisdiction of residence of the EENF or the documents constituting it exclude that the revenues or assets of the EENF are distributed to natural persons or non-charitable bodies or used for their benefit, unless that use is in relation to the charitable activities of the EENF or as a reasonable remuneration for services presumed or as a payment, to their fair value and
v. the law applicable in the jurisdiction of residence of the entity, or the documents constituting the entity, requires that, in the liquidation or dissolution of the entity, all its assets be distributed to a public entity or to another non-profit organization or be devolved to the government of the jurisdiction or country of residence of the entity or to any of its political subdivisions.
5. Tax resident.
The term "tax identity" means any person or entity that is considered to be a resident for the purposes of the tax legislation of the jurisdiction concerned.
C. Aggregation of account balances and monetary conversions
1. Aggregation of accounts of physical persons
To determine the total balance or total value of the financial accounts held by a natural person, a reporting financial institution must aggregate all financial accounts managed by the individual or by a related entity, but only to the extent that its IT systems link these accounts with a data such as the customer number or tax identification number, and thus allow the aggregation of the balances or values of the accounts. Each holder of a joint account shall be assigned the total of the balance or the value of that account for the purpose of applying these rules.
2. Aggregation of entity accounts balances.
To determine the balance or total value of the financial accounts held by an entity, a reporting financial institution must take into account all financial accounts held with or from a related entity, to the extent that its IT systems link these accounts with a data such as the customer number or the tax identification number, and thus allow the aggregation of the balances or values of the accounts.
3. Specific aggregation rules applicable to customer managers.
For the purpose of determining the balance or total value of the financial accounts held by a person for the purpose of determining whether a financial account is a high-value account, a reporting financial institution must also aggregate the balances of all accounts, where a customer account manager knows or has good reason to assume that these accounts belong directly or indirectly to the same person or that they are audited or opened by the same person (except in the event of an opening)
4. Monetary conversion rules.
To determine the balance or value of the financial accounts denominated in a currency other than the U.S. dollar, a reporting financial institution shall convert in that currency the thresholds in U.S. dollars set out in this Annex II, on the basis of the cash price published on the last day of the calendar year preceding that in which it calculates the balance or value of an account.
D. Exhibits.
For the purposes of this Appendix II, the following supporting documents shall be deemed acceptable:
1. A certificate of residence issued by a public entity authorized to do so (e.g. a Government, an agency of the Government or a municipality) of the jurisdiction whose beneficiary claims to be a resident.
2. In the case of a natural person, any valid identity document issued by a public body authorized to do so (e.g. a Government, an agency of the Government or a municipality), on which the name of the person is displayed and which is generally used for identification purposes.
3. In the case of an entity, any official document issued by a public body authorized to do so (e.g. a Government, an agency of the entity or a municipality) on which the entity is named and the address of its principal institution in the jurisdiction (or the territory of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, Guam, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the United States Virgin Islands) of which it claims to be a resident, or
4. In the case of an open account in a jurisdiction subject to anti-money-laundering rules that have been approved by the IRS as part of an agreement with an eligible intermediary (as defined by the relevant United States Treasury regulations), any document, other than a W-8 or W-9 form, referenced by that jurisdiction in the attachments to the agreement with an eligible intermediary to identify individuals.
5. Any financial statement, any solvency report prepared by a third party, any balance sheet or any report of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
E. Alternative procedures for financial accounts held by a beneficial natural person of an insurance contract with a redemption value.
A declaring financial institution may presume that a natural person beneficiary of an insurance contract with a redemption value (other than the descriptor) who receives a capital as a result of a death is not a person to be the subject of a return and may consider that the financial account is not a declarable account, unless the declaring financial institution actually has knowledge of the fact that the beneficiary of the capital is a A reporting financial institution has reasons to know that the beneficiary of a redemption-value insurance contract is a person to be reported if the information collected by the reporting financial institution and associated with the recipient contain U.S. indices as described in section B, paragraph 1, of Part I of this Appendix II. If a reporting financial institution knows, or has reasons to know, that the recipient is a person to be reported, it must follow the procedures described in section B, paragraph 3, of Part I of this Appendix II.
F. Appeal to third parties.
Belgium authorizes reporting financial institutions to rely on the due diligence procedures applied by third parties, to the extent provided by the applicable United States Treasury Regulations.

ANNEX III: STANDARD OF RAISONABLE DILIGENCE APPLICABLE TO A DECLARATION SUBMITTED LEGITION IS A LEGALIZATION TO THE UNITED STATES
PART I: Due diligence procedures for the accounts of pre-existing natural persons
The following procedures apply for the identification of declarable accounts among the accounts of pre-existing natural persons.
A. REVIEW RECORDS, IDENTIFICATION OR DECLARATION
A pre-existing physical person account that is a buyback insurance contract or an annuity contract must not be examined, identified or declared, provided that the law effectively prevents the reporting financial institution from selling such contracts to residents of a reporting jurisdiction.
B. VALUE RECORDS
The following procedures apply to the accounts of pre-existing natural persons whose total balance or total value does not exceed 31 December of the year 2015, with respect to the Member States of the European Union, or 31 December of the year provided for by Royal Decree, with respect to any other reporting jurisdiction, the equivalent in EUR of US$1,000. ("low-value accounts").
1. Residence address.
If the reporting financial institution has in its files a current residence address of the individual account holder based on Exhibits, it may consider the account holder as a tax resident, the jurisdiction in which the address is located in order to determine whether the account holder is a person to be the subject of a statement.
2. Electronic search.
If the reporting financial institution does not use a current residence address of the individual account holder based on Exhibits as described in paragraph 1 of this section B, it shall review the data that it holds and that may be searched electronically to identify one or more of the following indices and apply the information set out in paragraphs 3 to 6 of this section B:
(a) identification of the account holder as a resident of a jurisdiction subject to declaration;
(b) postal address or current residence (including a mailing box) in a court subject to declaration;
(c) one or more telephone numbers in a reporting court and no telephone number in the jurisdiction of the reporting financial institution;
(d) order of permanent transfer (except from a deposit account) to an account managed in a reporting jurisdiction;
(e) Proof or delegation of signature in the course of validity granted to a person whose address is located in a court subject to declaration; or
(f) address bearing the reference "remaining position" or "to the attention of" in a jurisdiction subject to declaration if the reporting financial institution has no other registered address for the account holder.
3. If the electronic data review does not reveal any of the indices listed in paragraph 2 of this paragraph B, no new approach is required until a change of circumstances occurs and results in one or more indices being associated with that account, or that the account becomes a high value account.
4. If the electronic examination of the data reveals one of the indices listed in subparagraphs (a) to (e) of paragraph 2 of this section B, or if a change of circumstances occurs that results in one or more indices associated with that account, the reporting financial institution is required to treat the account holder as a tax resident, of each jurisdiction subject to declaration for which an index is identified, unless it chooses to apply paragraph 6 of this section.
5. If the statement "remaining position" or "to the attention of" appears in the electronic record and no other address and any of the other indexes listed in subparagraphs (a) to (e) of subsection 2 of this section B are identified for the account holder, the reporting financial institution shall, in the order most appropriate to the circumstances, conduct the search in the paper records described in paragraph 2 of section C of this Part I If the search in hard files does not reveal any indexes and if the attempt to obtain self-certification or supporting documents fails, the reporting financial institution must declare the account as an undocumented account to the competent authority of the jurisdiction under which it reports.
6. Notwithstanding the discovery of indexes referred to in paragraph 2 of this section B, a reporting financial institution is not required to consider an account holder as a resident of a reporting jurisdiction in the following cases:
(a) The information on the account holder includes a current postal or residential address in the reporting jurisdiction, one or more telephone numbers in the reporting jurisdiction (and no telephone number in the jurisdiction of the reporting financial institution) or orders of permanent transfer (in respect of financial accounts other than deposit accounts) on an account managed in a reporting jurisdiction and the reporting financial institution obtains, or has previously examined and,
i. a self-certification from the holder of account of the jurisdiction or the courts in which he resides who does not mention that jurisdiction subject to declaration; and
ii. a supporting document that establishes that the account holder is not subject to a statement.
(b) The information on the account holder includes a valid proxy or signature delegation granted to a person whose address is located in the reporting jurisdiction, the reporting financial institution obtains, or has previously examined, and retains a copy of the following documents:
i. a self-certification from the holder of account of the jurisdiction or the courts in which he resides who does not mention that jurisdiction subject to declaration; or
ii. a supporting document that establishes that the account holder is not subject to a statement.
C. EXAMEN PROCEDURES APPROFONDI FOR ELEVEE VALUE RECORDS.
The following in-depth review procedures apply to the accounts of pre-existing natural persons whose balance or value exceeds, as at 31 December 2015, when the account holder is a resident of a member country of the European Union, or as at 31 December of the year provided for by Royal Decree, when the account holder is a resident of another reporting jurisdiction, the equivalent in EUR of US$1,000 000. ("high value accounts").
1. Electronic search.
With respect to high-value accounts, the reporting financial institution is required to review the data it holds and that may be searched electronically to identify one of the indices referred to in section B, paragraph 2, of this Part I.
2. Research in paper files.
If the reporting financial institution's databases that may be examined electronically contain fields that include all the information described in paragraph 3 of this section C and allow for an understanding of its content, no research in hard-copy records is required. If these databases do not contain all of this information, the reporting financial institution is also required, for a high-value account, to review the client's current main file and, to the extent that this information is not included, the following documents associated with the account and obtained by the reporting financial institution over the previous five years to search for one of the indices described in section B, paragraph 2, of this Part I:
(a) most recently collected supporting documents relating to the account;
(b) the most recent agreement or the most recent account opening document;
(c) the most recent documentation obtained by the reporting financial institution pursuant to procedures for identifying clients and combating laundering (AML/KYC) or for other legal reasons;
(d) any power of attorney or delegation of signature that is valid; and
(e) any order of permanent transfer (except from a deposit account) that is valid.
3. Exception applicable where databases contain sufficient information.
A reporting financial institution is not required to conduct research in the paper files described in paragraph 2 of this section C if its information that may be examined electronically includes the following:
(a) the residence status of the account holder;
(b) the residence address and mailing address of the account holder on file with the reporting financial institution;
(c) the telephone number(s) of the account holder that appears on the record of the reporting financial institution;
(d) in the case of financial accounts other than deposit accounts, a possible order of permanent transfer from the account to another account (including an account from another branch of the reporting financial institution or another financial institution);
(e) a possible address bearing the mention "to the attention of" or "to the remaining position" for the account holder; and
(f) a possible proxy or delegation of signature on the account.
4. Requesting information from the Customer Manager for real account knowledge.
In addition to the research in the information and paper files described above in section C, subsection 1, the reporting financial institution is required to treat as a declarable account any high-value account entrusted to a customer manager (including any financial accounts that are grouped with this high-value account) if the account holder knows that the account holder is a person to be reported.
5. Consequences of the discovery of indexes
(a) If the in-depth review of the high-value accounts in section C does not reveal any of the indices listed in section B, paragraph 2, and if the application of paragraph 4 of this paragraph This does not allow to establish that the account is held by a person to be the subject of a statement, no new approach is required until a change of circumstances occurs that results in one or more indices associated with that account.
(b) If the in-depth review of the high-value accounts described above reveals one of the indices listed in sub-paragraphs (a) to (e) of section B of this Part I or in the event of a subsequent change of circumstances that has the effect of linking to the account one or more indices related to the account, the reporting financial institution shall consider the account as a declarable account for each of the reporting jurisdictions for which an index is identified,
(c) If the in-depth review of the high-value accounts set out in section C reveals the "remaining position" or "to the attention of" and that no other address and any of the other indexes listed in subparagraphs (a) to (e) of section B, paragraph 2 of this Part I, shall be identified for the account holder, the reporting financial institution shall obtain from the account holder a self-certification or a tax proof establishing the address If the reporting financial institution fails to obtain this self-certification or supporting document, it shall declare the account as an undocumented account to the competent authority of the reporting jurisdiction.
6. If, as at 31 December 2015, when the account holder is a resident of a member country of the European Union, or as at 31 December of the year fixed by Royal Decree, when the account holder is a resident of another subject jurisdiction, a pre-existing physical person account is not a high value account but becomes the last day of any subsequent calendar year, the reporting financial institution shall apply to that account the review procedures described in depth If, as a result of this review, it appears that this account is a declarable account, the reporting financial institution must provide the required information on this account for the year in which it is identified as a declarable account and for the following years on an annual basis, unless the account holder ceases to be a person to be reported.
7. After a reporting financial institution has applied the in-depth review procedures described in this section C to a high-value account, it is no longer required to renew these procedures in the following years, with the exception of taking information from the customer manager described in paragraph 4 of this section C, unless the account is not documented, in which case the financial institution must renew them annually until the account ceases to be undocumented.
8. If a change in circumstances with respect to a high-value account occurs and has as a result that one or more of the indices referred to in section B, paragraph 2, of this Part I are associated with this account, the reporting financial institution shall consider the account as a declarable account for each reporting jurisdiction for which an index is identified, unless it chooses to apply section B, paragraph 6, of this Part I and one of the exceptions to this account.
9. A reporting financial institution is required to implement procedures to ensure that customer managers identify any changes in circumstances related to an account. If, for example, a customer manager is informed that the account holder has a new postal address in a reporting jurisdiction, the reporting financial institution must consider this new address as a change of circumstances and, if it chooses to apply section B, paragraph 6, of this Part I, obtain the required documents from the account holder.
D. ECHEANCES
The examination of the accounts of pre-existing high-value individuals must be completed by 31 December 2016, when the account holder is a resident of a member country of the European Union, or on the date fixed by Royal Decree in other cases. The review of low-value pre-existing accounts must be completed by 31 December 2017 at the latest, when the account holder is a resident of a member country of the European Union, or on the date fixed by Royal Decree for any other jurisdiction subject to declaration.
Any pre-existing physical account that has been identified as a declarable account in accordance with this Part is considered to be a declarable account in the following years unless the account holder ceases to be a person to be the subject of a statement.
PART II: Procedures for due diligence for new accounts of natural persons
The following procedures apply to identify declarable accounts among the new physical accounts.
A. With respect to the new accounts of natural persons, the reporting financial institution must obtain at the opening of the account a self-certification (which may be part of the documents provided at the opening of the account) that allows it to determine the address or addresses of the account holder's tax residence and to confirm the likelihood of self-certification based on the information obtained in the context of the opening of the account, including
B. If the self-certification determines that the account holder is a tax resident of a reporting jurisdiction, the reporting financial institution is required to treat the account as a declarable account and the self-certification must indicate the account holder's NIF for that reporting jurisdiction (subject to section 6, paragraph 2 of this Act and its date of birth.
C. If a change of circumstances in respect of a new physical person account occurs and is therefore that the reporting financial institution finds or has reasons to assume that the initial self-certification is inaccurate or unreliable, this institution cannot use this autocertification and must obtain a valid autocertification that specifies the address or tax residence addresses of the account holder.
PART III: Due diligence procedures for pre-existing entity accounts
The following procedures apply to identify the declarable accounts among the pre-existing entity accounts.
A. RECORDS OF ENTITIES NOT REVIEW, IDENTIFICATION OR DECLARATION.
Unless the reporting financial institution decides otherwise, either in respect of all accounts of pre-existing entities or, separately, in relation to a clearly identified group of such accounts, a pre-existing entity account whose balance or value does not exceed the equivalent in EUR of US$250,000 as of December 31, 2015, when the account holder is a resident of a member country of the European Union, or as of December 31, 2015
B. RECORDS OF SUBSTANCES REVIEW.
A pre-existing entity account whose total balance or total value exceeds the EUR equivalent of US$250,000 as of December 31, 2015 when the account holder is a resident of a member country of the European Union, or December 31 of the year fixed by Royal Decree in the other cases, and a pre-existing entity account whose balance or value does not exceed that amount on the dates described above, but exceeds that amount on the last day
C. RECORDS OF ENTITIES FOR A DECLARATION IS REQUIRED.
With respect to the accounts of pre-existing entities referred to in section B of this Part III, only accounts held by one or more entities that are persons subject to reporting, or by passive FRFs of which one or more persons holding control of them are persons to be reported, shall be considered to be declarable accounts.
D. EXAMEN PROCEDURES RELATING TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF RECORDS OF DECLARATIONS ON REQUIRED.
For the pre-existing entity accounts described in section B of this Part III, the reporting financial institution shall apply the following review procedures to determine whether the account is held by one or more persons subject to reporting, or by passive FRFs, of which one or more persons holding control of the account are persons to be reported:
1. Determine whether the entity is a person to be reported.
(a) Examine information obtained for regulatory or customer-related purposes [including information collected as part of the procedures for identifying clients and combating laundering (AML/KYC)] to determine whether this information indicates that the account holder is a resident of a reporting jurisdiction. For this purpose, the place of incorporation or creation or an address in a court subject to declaration is part of the information indicating that the account holder is a resident of a court subject to declaration.
(b) If the information obtained indicates that the account holder is a resident of a reporting jurisdiction, the reporting financial institution is required to treat the account as a declarable account unless the account holder obtains a self-certification of the account holder or determines with sufficient certainty on the basis of information in his or her possession or is accessible to the public that the account holder is not a person to be reported.
2. Determine whether the entity is a passive FRF of which one or more people who hold control of it are persons to be reported.
With respect to the holder of a pre-existing entity account (including an entity that is a person to be the subject of a return), the reporting financial institution must determine whether the account holder is a passive FRF, of which one or more persons who have control of the account must be the subject of a return. If so, the account must be considered a declarable account. To this end, the reporting financial institution must follow the directions referred to in subparagraphs (a) to (c) below in the most appropriate order of the circumstances.
(a) Determine whether the account holder is a passive ENF. To determine whether the account holder is a passive FRF, the reporting financial institution must obtain a self-certification of the account holder establishing its status, unless it determines with sufficient certainty on the basis of information in its possession or that is accessible to the public that the account holder is an active FRF or a financial institution other than an investment entity described in subsection 10 of section A of Schedule I is not a financial partner.
(b) Identify persons holding control of an account holder. To determine persons holding control of an account holder, a reporting financial institution may rely on information collected and retained in the procedures for identifying clients and combating laundering (AML/KYC).
(c) Determine whether a person holding control of a passive FRF is a person to be reported. To determine whether a person holding the control of a passive FRF is a person to be reported, a reporting financial institution may rely on:
i. information collected and collected pursuant to procedures for identifying customers and combating laundering (AML/KYC) in the case of a pre-existing entity account held by one or more FRFs and whose balance or value does not exceed the equivalent in EUR of US$1,000 000, or
ii. a self-certification of the account holder or the person holding control of the jurisdiction(s) of which that person is a tax resident.
E. CALENDAR OF IMPLEMENTATION OF EXPENDITURE AND SUPPLEMENTARY PROCEDURES AGAINST PREEXISTING ACCOUNTS.
1. The review of the accounts of pre-existing entities whose total balance or total value is greater than the EUR equivalent of US$250,000 as at 31 December 2015, when the account holder is a resident of a member country of the European Union, or as at 31 December of the year fixed by Royal Decree, when the account holder is a resident of another jurisdiction subject to declaration, must be completed as at 31 December 2017, when the account holder is a resident
2. The review of the accounts of pre-existing entities whose total balance or total value does not exceed the EUR equivalent of $250,000 as at 31 December 2015, when the account holder is a resident of a member country of the European Union, or as at 31 December of the year fixed by Royal Decree, when the account holder is a resident of another jurisdiction subject to declaration, but is greater than that amount as at 31 December of
3. If a change of circumstances in respect of a pre-existing entity account occurs and is therefore that the reporting financial institution knows or has any place to know that the self-certification or other related account document is inaccurate or unreliable, that institution must re-examine the status of the account by applying the procedures described in section D of this Part III.
PART IV: Due diligence procedures for new entity accounts
The following procedures apply to identify declarable accounts among the new entity accounts.
A. EXAMEN PROCEDURES RELATING TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF RECORDS FOR DECLARATIONS ON REQUIRED.
For the new entity accounts, a reporting financial institution shall apply the following review procedures to determine whether the account is held by one or more persons who are subject to reporting or by passive FRFs, of which one or more persons who have control of the account must be reported:
1. Determine whether the entity is a person to be reported.
(a) Obtain a self-certification, which may be part of the documents provided at the opening of the account, allowing the reporting financial institution to determine the address or addresses of the account holder's tax residence and to confirm the likelihood of self-certification by relying on the information obtained as part of the opening of the account, including the documents collected under the procedures to identify customers and to control the account. If the entity certifies that it has no tax residence address, the reporting financial institution may rely on the address of its principal institution to determine the residence of the account holder.
(b) If self-certification determines that the account holder resides in a reporting jurisdiction, the reporting financial institution is required to treat the account as a declarable account unless it determines with sufficient certainty on the basis of information in its possession or that is accessible to the public that the account holder is not a person to be the subject of a declaration under that reporting jurisdiction.
2. Determine whether the entity is a passive FRF of which one or more people who hold control of it are persons to be reported.
In the case of a new entity account holder (including an entity that is a person to be the subject of a return), the reporting financial institution must determine whether the account holder is a passive FRF, of which one or more persons who have control of it are persons to be the subject of a return. If so, the account must be considered a declarable account. To this end, the reporting financial institution must follow the directions referred to in subparagraphs (a) to (c) below in the most appropriate order of the circumstances.
(a) Determine whether the account holder is a passive ENF. To determine whether the account holder is a passive FRF, the reporting financial institution must obtain a self-certification of the account holder establishing its status, unless it determines with sufficient certainty on the basis of information in its possession or that is accessible to the public that the account holder is an active FRF or a financial institution other than an investment entity described in subparagraph (b) of section A of Schedule I that is not a financial partner.
(b) Identify persons holding control of an account holder. To determine persons holding control of an account holder, a reporting financial institution may rely on information collected and retained in the procedures for identifying clients and combating laundering (AML/KYC).
(c) Determine whether a person holding control of a passive FRF is a person to be reported. To determine whether a person holding the control of a passive FRF is a person to be reported, a reporting financial institution may rely on a self-certification of the account holder or that person.
PART V: Special due diligence rules
For the implementation of the due diligence described above, the following additional rules apply:
A. RECOURS TO OTHER AUTOCERTIFICATIONS AND JUSTIFICATIVE PIECES.
A reporting financial institution may not rely on a self-certification or a supporting document if it knows or has any place to know that this self-certification or supporting document is inaccurate or unreliable.
B. ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES FOR FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS OF A PHYSICAL PERSON OF A CONTRACTORY OF ASSURANCE WITH RACHAT VALUE OR A CONTRACTING OF RENT.
A reporting financial institution may presume that the beneficiary of an insurance contract with a redemption value or an annuity contract (other than the subscriber) that receives a capital as a result of a death is not a person to be the subject of a declaration and may consider that that financial account is not a declarable account unless the reporting financial institution is actually aware of the fact that the recipient of the return is A reporting financial institution has every reason to know that the beneficiary of the capital of an insurance contract with a redemption value or an annuity contract is a person to be the subject of a return if the information collected by the reporting financial institution and associated with the beneficiary includes indices referred to in section B of Part III. If a reporting financial institution knows, or has any place to know, that the recipient is a person to be reported, it must follow the procedures set out in section B of Part III.
C. ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES FOR FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS OF A BENEFICIARY PERSON OF A GROUP's ASSURANCE REGIME WITH VALUE OF RACHAT OR GROUP's ASSURANCE CONTRATS.
A declaring financial institution may consider that a financial account that corresponds to the participation of a member in a group insurance contract with a redemption value or a group annuity contract is not a declarable account until the date on which an amount is due to the employee/certificate holder or recipient, if the said financial account meets the following conditions:
i. the group insurance contract with a redemption value or the group annuity contract is signed by an employer and covers at least twenty-five employees/certificate holders;
ii. employees/certificate holders are entitled to collect any amount related to their participation in the contract and to designate the beneficiaries of the capital paid to their death; and
iii. the total capital that can be paid to an employee/certificate holder or beneficiary does not exceed the equivalent in EUR of US$1,000 000.
"Group insurance contract with redemption value" means an insurance contract with redemption value
i. that covers natural persons who join through an employer, professional association, trade union organization or other association or other group and
ii. for which a premium is collected for each member of the group (or member of a group category) that is determined independently of the aspects of the health condition other than the age, sex and smoking of the member (or class of members) of the group.
"Group annuity contract" means an annuity contract under which creditors are natural persons who join through an employer, a professional association, a trade union organization or another association or another group.
D. SUPPLEMENTARY DEFINITIONS
1. The term "ENF" means an entity that is not a financial institution.
2. The expression "Passive ENF" means any ENF that is not:
i. an active or
ii. an investment entity described in paragraph 10 (b) of Section A of Appendix I that is not a financial institution of a partner jurisdiction.
3. The term "Active ENF" means any FRF that meets one of the following criteria:
(a) less than 50% of the FRF's gross revenues for the previous calendar year or another relevant reference accounting period are passive revenues and less than 50% of the assets held by the FRF during the previous calendar year or another relevant reference accounting period are assets that generate or are held for that purpose;
(b) NFB shares are the subject of regular transactions in a regulated stock market or NFB is an entity related to an entity whose shares are the subject of regular transactions in a regulated stock market;
(c) the ENF is a public entity, an international organization, a central bank, or an entity wholly owned by one or more of the aforementioned structures;
(d) the activities of the ENF consist essentially of holding (in whole or in part) shares issued by one or more subsidiaries that engage in activities other than those of a financial institution, or proposing financing or services to these subsidiaries. An entity may not claim that status if it operates (or is present) as an investment fund, such as an investment capital fund, a venture capital fund, a debt-to-debt business repurchase fund or any other investment organization whose purpose is to acquire or finance companies and then hold investments for investment purposes;
(e) the NFB has not yet carried out any activity and has never previously exercised it but invests capital in assets to carry on an activity other than that of a financial institution, on the understanding that this exception cannot apply to the NFB after the expiry of a period of 24 months after the date of its original constitution;
(f) the NFB was not a financial institution in the previous five years and proceeds to the liquidation of its assets or is being restructured to continue or resume transactions or activities that are not those of a financial institution;
(g) the NFB focuses on the financing of related entities that are not financial institutions and coverage transactions with or on behalf of them and does not provide funding or coverage services to entities that are not related entities, provided that the group to which these related entities belong is primarily engaged in an activity that is not that of a financial institution; or
(h) the ENF meets all the following conditions:
i. is established and operated in its jurisdiction of residence exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, artistic, cultural, sporting or educational purposes; or is established and operated in its jurisdiction of residence and is a professional federation, a employers' organization, a business chamber, a trade union, agricultural or horticultural organization, civic or an organization whose exclusive purpose is to promote social welfare;
ii. is exempt from corporate tax in its jurisdiction;
iii. it has no shareholder or any member with a right of ownership or enjoyment on its income or assets;
iv. the law applicable in the jurisdiction of residence of the FRF or the documents constituting it exclude that the revenues or assets of the ENF are distributed to natural persons or non-charitable organizations or used for their benefit, unless that use is in relation to the charitable activities of the ENF or as a reasonable entity for services presumed or as a payment, to their fair market value, and
v. the law applicable in the NFB's jurisdiction of residence or the constituent documents of the NFB requires that, in the liquidation or dissolution of the entity, all its assets be distributed to a public entity or to another charitable organization or be devolved to the government of the NFB's residence jurisdiction or to any of its political subdivisions.
4. The term "tax identity" means any person or entity that is considered to be a resident for the purposes of the tax legislation of the jurisdiction concerned.
5. The term "Tax Residence" refers to the residence considered for the application of the tax legislation of the jurisdiction concerned.
E. AGREGATION OF RECORD SALES AND MONETARY CONVERSION REGULATIONS
1. Aggregation of accounts of natural persons.
To determine the total balance or total value of the financial accounts held by a natural person, a reporting financial institution must aggregate all financial accounts managed by the individual or by a related entity, but only to the extent that its IT systems link these accounts with a data such as the customer number or the NIF, and thus allow the aggregation of the balances or values of the accounts. Each holder of a joint account shall be assigned the total of the balance or value of that account for the purposes of these rules.
2. Aggregation of entity accounts balances.
To determine the balance or total value of the financial accounts held by an entity, a reporting financial institution must take into account all financial accounts held with or from a related entity, to the extent that its IT systems link these accounts with a data such as the customer number or the NIF, and thus allow the aggregation of the balances or values of the accounts. Each holder of a joint account shall be assigned the total of the balance or value of that account for the purposes of these rules.
3. Special aggregation rule applicable to customer managers.
To determine the total balance or total value of the financial accounts held by a person for the purpose of determining whether a financial account is of high value, a reporting financial institution must also aggregate the balances of all accounts, where a customer manager knows or has any place to know that these accounts belong directly or indirectly to the same person or that they are controlled or opened by the same person (except in the event of a fiduty opening).
F. JUSTIFICATIVE PIECES
For the purposes of this Act, the following supporting documents are deemed acceptable:
(a) A certificate of residence issued by an authorized public body (e.g. a Government, an agency of the Government or a municipality) of the jurisdiction whose beneficiary claims to be a resident.
(b) In the case of a natural person, any valid identity document issued by an authorized public body (e.g. a Government, an agency of the person or a municipality), on which the name of the person is displayed and which is generally used for identification purposes.
(c) In the case of an entity, any official document issued by a public body authorized to do so (e.g., a Government, an agency of the entity or a municipality) on which the entity's name and the address of its principal institution is in the jurisdiction of which the entity claims to be a resident or in the jurisdiction in which the entity was constituted or whose right governs it.
(d) Any audited financial statement, solvency report prepared by a third party, balance sheet or report prepared by the securities regulator.
With respect to a pre-existing entity account, reporting financial institutions may use as a supporting document any classification in the records of the reporting financial institution relating to the account holder that has been established on the basis of a standard coding system by reporting sector, which has been registered by the reporting financial institution in the context of the procedures for identifying customers and combating money laundering (AML/KYC) or The term "standardized coding system by sector of activity" means a classification system used to classify establishments by type of activity for purposes other than taxation purposes.
G. COMPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS WITH DECLARATION AND DILIGATION CONCERNING INFORMATION RELATING to FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS.
1. Change in circumstances
The term "change of circumstances" includes any change resulting in the addition of information relating to the status of a person or not consistent with the status of that person. A change of circumstances also includes any modification or addition of information relating to the account of the account holder (including the addition or substitution of an account holder or any other modification in that regard) or any modification or addition of information on any account associated with the account concerned (by applying the aggregation rules set out in Part V, section C of this annex), if that change or addition of information affects the status of the account holder.
If a declaring financial institution has used the residency test set out in section B, paragraph 1, of this annex, and if a change of circumstances brings the declaring financial institution to know or to have any place to know that the original of the supporting document (or other equivalent document) is not correct or unreliable, the declaring financial institution shall, at the latest, If the reporting financial institution cannot obtain the authorisation and the new supporting document within the above-mentioned period, the reporting financial institution shall apply the search procedure electronically set out in paragraphs 2 to 6 of section B of Part I of this annex.
2. Self-certification for new entity accounts
In the case of new entity accounts, for the purpose of determining whether a person holding the control of a passive FRF is a person to be reported, a reporting financial institution may rely solely on a self-certification of the account holder or the person holding the control.
3. Residence of a financial institution
A financial institution "resides" in a partner jurisdiction if it falls within the jurisdiction of this jurisdiction (otherwise, if the partner jurisdiction is able to impose on the financial institution compliance with its declarative obligation). In general, where a financial institution is a tax resident of a partner jurisdiction, it falls within the jurisdiction of that partner jurisdiction and is therefore a financial institution of that partner jurisdiction. Where a trust is a financial institution (whether or not a tax resident of a partner jurisdiction), the trust is deemed to fall within the jurisdiction of that jurisdiction if one or more of its trustees are residents of that jurisdiction, unless the trust transmits all information to be communicated under this Act with respect to the declarable accounts held by the trust to another partner jurisdiction because it is a tax resident of that other jurisdiction. However, where a financial institution (other than a trust) does not have a tax residence (e.g. if it is considered fiscally transparent or is located in a jurisdiction that does not impose income), it is considered to fall within the jurisdiction of a partner jurisdiction and is therefore a financial institution of a partner jurisdiction if:
(a) is incorporated under the legislation of the partner jurisdiction;
(b) its head office (including effective management) is in the partner jurisdiction; or
(c) financial supervision in the partner jurisdiction.
Where a financial institution (other than a trust) resides in two or more partner jurisdictions, the financial institution will be subject to the reporting and diligence obligations provided by the partner jurisdiction in which it manages the financial accounts or accounts.
4. Managed accounts
In general, an account should be considered to be managed:
- in the case of a accounts account, by the financial institution that has the custody of the assets of the account (including a financial institution that holds the assets on behalf of a broker for an account holder with that institution);
- in the case of a deposit account, by the financial institution that is required to make payments to that account (unless it is an agent of a financial institution, regardless of whether or not that agent is a financial institution);
- in the case of a title of participation or receivable deposited with a financial institution and constituting a financial account by the financial institution in question;
- in the case of an insurance contract with a redemption value or an annuity contract, by the financial institution that is required to make payments under this contract.
5. Trusts that are passive ENFs
An entity such as a partnership, limited liability corporation or a similar legal structure that does not have a tax residence, in accordance with Annex I, Section D, paragraph 3, is considered to be resident in the jurisdiction where its effective headquarters is located. For these purposes, a legal entity or structure is deemed to be "similar" to a partnership or limited liability corporation if it is not considered a taxable unit in a jurisdiction subject to declaration under the tax legislation of that jurisdiction. However, in order to avoid double declarations (in view of the broad scope of the term "persons holding control" in the case of trusts), a trust that is a passive ENF may not be considered a similar legal structure.
6. Address of the main establishment of an entity
One of the rules set out in section F of this annex provides that, in the case of an entity, the official document contains the address of its principal institution in the jurisdiction of which it claims to be a resident or in the jurisdiction in which it was constituted or whose law governs it. The address of the entity's principal establishment is generally the place where its effective management seat is located. The address of a financial institution to which the entity has opened an account, mailbox or address used solely for mail is not the address of the entity's principal institution, unless it is the only address used by the entity and is an address of the entity's headquarters in the records relating to the entity's organization. In addition, an address that is provided under instruction to keep all mail sent to this address is not the address of the entity's main office.