Singapore in talks with US on FATCA

The Monetary Agency of Singapore (MAS), the city state's central bank together with the Finance Ministry, announced Friday that the government is on talk with the U.S. Department of the Treasury to conclude an intergovernmental agreement on the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). According to the press release, a private sector advisory panel will be formed to provide industry inputs to the talks. The FATCA is known as the U.S. initiative to cracking down on tax evasion by their taxpayers who put assets in offshore accounts, requiring reports from foreign financial institutions that hold accounts for U.S. residents. Earlier this year, the co-founder of Facebook, Eduardo Saverin, controversially gave up his U.S.citizenship and decided to live in Singapore. Some critics thought he was aiming at avoiding taxes from the U.S. government. The 30-year-old rich is said to be ranked 8th with total net worth of 2.2 billion U.S. dollars among the Singapore's 40 richest tycoons, according to the latest Forbes report. The MAS said the talk with the U.S. government on the FATCA issue is "in line with Singapore's role as a responsible tax jurisdiction and our commitment to safeguard our financial system from being used to harbour illegal proceeds." The MAS also added that they have no timetable for when will the intergovernmental agreement be inked.