Is my company a financial institution?
Your organization is considered a Financial Institution under CRS and FATCA if it is either a(n):
Depository institution (e.g., savings bank, commercial bank, savings and loan association, credit union).
Custodial institution (e.g., mutual fund, custodian bank, broker, central securities depository).
Investment firm (e.g., entity investing, reinvesting or trading in financial instruments, portfolio management or investing, administering or managing financial assets).
Specified insurance company with cash-value products or annuities.
Is my company an active NFE?
Your organization is an Active Non-Financial Entity ("NFE") if it meets at least one of the following criteria:
Operating company: Less than 50% of the gross income of your NFE is passive income and less than 50% of the assets generate passive income.
Publicly traded company: Your NFE’s stock is regularly traded on a recognized securities exchange or you are an affiliate of such a stock traded entity.
Governmental entity: Your NFE is a governmental entity, an international organization, a central bank, or an entity wholly owned by one or more of the foregoing.
Holding company: Substantially all the activities of your NFE consist of owning shares of a subsidiary or subsidiaries (other than financial institutions), and providing services and financing to such subsidiaries.
Exception: If your organization is an investment fund or an investment vehicle, whose purpose is to acquire or finance companies and hold shares in those companies as fixed assets, it is not an Active NFE.
Startup company: Your NFE was founded in the past 24 months and is not yet engaged in business and has not engaged in business in the past, but invests in assets with the intent to engage in business (other than that of a financial institution).
Restructuring: Your NFE is currently divesting its assets or restructuring with the intention of continuing or resuming an activity.
Exception: Your organization is not an Active NFE if it has been a financial institution for the past 5 years or it intends to resume the activity of a financial institution.
Treasury company: The activity of your NFE consists primarily of financing and hedging transactions with or for related entities, and it does not provide such services to entities that are not related entities.
Exception: If your organization belongs to a group that is primarily engaged in the business of a financial institution, it is not an Active NFE.
Non-profit organization: Your NFE meets all of the following requirements:
It is established and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, artistic, cultural, athletic, or educational purposes, or it is a professional association, business association, chamber of commerce, labor association, agricultural or horticultural association, civic association, or organization operating exclusively for the promotion of welfare.
It is exempt from income tax.
It has no shareholders or members with ownership or beneficial interests in its income or assets.
Its income and assets may not be distributed to or used for the benefit of private individuals or non-charitable entities, except as arms-length compensation for services rendered or assets acquired by the NFE.
Upon its liquidation or dissolution, all of its assets must be distributed to a governmental entity or other non-profit organization or reverted to the government.
Is my company a passive NFE?
Your organization is a Passive Non-Financial Entity if it does not classify as either:
A Financial Institution;
An Active NFE;
A Professionally managed investment entity resident in a non-participating CRS country.