As I am sure you are all aware that, after a long wait, the final FATCA regulations were published – all 544 pages of them! Being one of the most talked about and biggest changes in the tax and financial services world in recent years I felt it was important that I spoke to the market and took a holistic view ton the worries, thoughts and impact that FATCA will have.

Thank you to all of you who took the time to fill out the survey, while we are still in the early stages of the FATCA regulations it was very interesting to review your thoughts and it has painted a very interesting picture on plans that are in place, the challenges and how suitably staffed businesses are.

I have highlighted the key findings below, which I hope will make interesting reading. The idea around this survey was to aid my thinking to what support and specific skill sets might be required throughout this year. I do believe that the answers will develop and change as the impact of these regulations finally become apparent but I hope this is some good initial food for thought.

Results

•              All respondees (Head of Taxes or Heads of Operations in FS) expect to be affected by the introduction of FATCA.
•              Approximately 3/4 of the market feel they are not ready or under prepared for the impact of the FATCA regulations.
•              Having said that 63% of businesses say they have some sort of plan in place, with the remaining 37% intending to put one into place
•              65% of the market feel that FATCA will have a significant impact on their day-to-day activities.
•              With regard to resources, more than 70% of the market feel that they will need to hire or are at least unsure of their hiring strategies, with the majority of the new recruits having to come from the external market place.
•              A 1/3 of the participants of this survey feel that up to 5 new hires maybe needed by the end of Q3 2013

Analysis

I feel these results make for very interesting reading and show that there are concerns about how FATCA will impact the market and how ready the market is for these impacts.

One of the more telling answers was that over 50% of the market is not prepared for the new regulations - meaning that businesses are waiting to follow others, waiting to be reactive or waiting to be led from the US.

Another result, which I feel will increase over time, will be the impact that FATCA will have on your day job with 63% feeling it will make a difference. How will this affect other areas? Will other issues be pushed to one side?

How we can support you

Lastly, over the next 3 quarters, resource will need to be looked at and hiring managers will need to think about internal skill sets and whether there is strength in depth to handle the new regulations. Operational tax teams have grown significantly over the past 12-18 months but FATCA has just added more responsibilities to these teams. Clearly, thoughts around FATCA/QI/Operational tax specialists need to be considered and in a lot of cases, new hires will need to be made.

Next steps

Many thanks for taking the time to read the results of the Integral FATCA Survey 2013 and I hope you found it of some use. Over the coming weeks and months it would be great to speak to you in more detail regarding FATCA, its impact and how Integral can support in providing bench marketing, market information and to discuss new candidate profiles.

Being a leading in the FATCA and Financial Services market I would be more then happy to discuss your thoughts and concerns on the market place - please do not hesitate to call or email me directly.

Kind regards

Phil

Phil Jolley
Integral Search
+44 (0) 203 195 1961