In the first instance, it is the bank or other financial institution that needs to do most things to comply with the Foreign Account and Tax Compliance Act and similar government-imposed reporting regimes. But individuals and individual businesses can get caught up too. Because the rules, regulations and forms are voluminous, this is generally not a do-it-yourself subject. In particular, expats may have to confirm their US tax compliance to a bank, and/or they may have to report their foreign registered financial assets.
