Under FATCA, a 30% withholding tax applies to any US payments (interest, dividend or sales proceeds) made to an investment fund unless the Foreign Financial Institution (FFI) agrees, pursuant to a disclosure compliance agreement entered into with the U.S. Treasury, to provide information with respect to each ‘financial account’ held by ‘specified U.S. persons’ and ‘U.S.-owned foreign entities.’
The term FFI may include banks, brokers, insurance and reinsurance companies and investment funds, including private equity funds, hedge funds and real estate funds, as well as certain professionals of the financial sector (PFS).