Answer: The FATCA and CRS provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “ITA”) and the guidance issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in connection with those provisions addresses the application of the FATCA and CRS due diligence and reporting requirements in circumstances where there are multiple financial institutions involved in a particular financial account. Generally, where an account is maintained by two financial institutions, each of which would have FATCA and CRS due diligence and reporting requirements, the parties can enter into arrangements to allocate the FATCA and CRS obligations applicable to the account amongst them in order to alleviate duplicate reporting. So, the answer is … yes!

If units of a fund are held in client name, both the fund and the dealer involved in the distribution have FATCA and CRS obligations with respect to the account. In general, the CRA expects dealers to perform the due diligence and account classification and funds to report on the accounts, unless a fund has been advised by a dealer that the dealer will take responsibility for its own reporting. While the ITA and CRA guidance sets out some default arrangements, financial institutions can enter into written agreements to allocate the responsibilities based on their circumstances. It is advisable to retain records of such arrangements in order to demonstrate compliance with FATCA and CRS obligations.

With respect to custodians, the CRA generally expects the financial institution with the most immediate relationship with the client to be best positioned to understand the client’s tax status (i.e. conduct the due diligence), however it is appreciated that custodians may be in a better position to provide reporting. The CRA expects a suitable arrangement to include one where the investment manager performs the due diligence and communicates the account classification to the custodial institution for reporting by the custodian to the CRA.

January 29, 2021