Clearing House Group Minutes - Department of Taoiseach

The aim of the proposal is to reflect the Basel III capital proposals, to introduce new
sanctions for non-compliance with prudential rules, corporate governance and remuneration.
These changes are due to be implemented from 1 January 2013 (there will be transitional
arrangements for some elements).
The proposal changes the balance of home-host supervisor responsibilities concerning
liquidity supervision of branches. Under the current CRD, host supervisors are responsible
for liquidity supervision, pending further coordination. CRD IV will assign this responsibility
to home supervisors, but with safeguards to ensure that host supervisors have full access to
information gathered by home supervisors.
General Tax Update
D/Finance has started a consultation process in respect of Budget and Finance Bill 2013.
Meetings have taken place with the Banking and Treasury Tax Subgroup and meetings are
scheduled with the Insurance and Funds Groups over the coming weeks.
Presidency of the EU will be a significant priority for D/Finance over the course of the next
year – there are a number of high-profile tax dossiers – CCCTB, FTT, and VAT. The
Department met with the European Commission in March of this year to kick off the
planning process and further meetings at Heads of Unit Level are planned for July.
FTT
The Government position is clear. Any tax on financial transactions would be best applied on
a wide international basis to include the major financial centres. If such a tax cannot be
introduced on a global basis, it would be better if it were introduced on an EU-wide basis, as
this would prevent any distortion of activity within the Union. There is concern if a FTT was
introduced, it could affect the financial services industry, especially in the IFSC, and lead to
some activities moving abroad.
D/Finance has consulted widely with the financial services industry on the implications of the
FTT proposal, including a round-table meeting on 5 March. The Department is fully aware
of industry concerns that the proposal may lead to loss of business and employment,
particularly if it is not introduced on a global or EU-wide basis.
FATCA – Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
Five Countries - Germany, Italy, U.K., Spain and France, together with the US issued a joint
statement, in February, to the effect that they would explore a common approach to FATCA
implementation through domestic reporting and reciprocal automatic exchange and based on
existing bilateral tax treaties. In essence, country-to-country agreements would replace the
agreements between the U.S. and the foreign financial institutions.
Following the release of that statement, Revenue has made contact with the U.S. Treasury
and is now in discussions with the U.S. with a view to implementing a country-to-country
agreement with the U.S. in relation to FATCA.
EU Wide Bank Resolution Proposals
D/Finance mentioned the European Commission proposal for a Directive to establish a
framework for the recovery and resolution of credit institutions and investment firms