Sponsored video briefing: Understanding Fatca

Erol Mustafa, a partner in Ernst & Young's information technology risk and assurance practice, discusses the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.

The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) has attracted at least as much comment, criticism and controversy as any other recent piece of legislation. Critics argue that its attempts to recover taxes from US citizens living and banking abroad will impose huge costs on foreign banks and will conflict with other countries' data protection and privacy requirements.

Erol Mustafa is a partner in Ernst & Young's information technology risk and assurance practice. In the videos below, he addresses eight questions relating to Fatca, its challenges, and the key points of complying with the new law. Click on the links to be taken to each video in turn.

• What is Fatca?

• How will Fatca's requirements for customer identification challenge a global bank's operations?

• What are the biggest operational risks posed by Fatca?

• What should organisations be doing to prepare for Fatca and related operational risks?

• Why is it important for foreign financial institutions to act quickly to implement Fatca's requirements?

• How far along are firms in their Fatca implementation process?

• What are the key recommendations for implementing Fatca's requirements?

• What is the most important point about Fatca compliance that clients must know?