Interactive Data has added its name to the list of market data vendors with reference data offerings designed to meet the compliance requirements of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca). It is also talking to third-party software providers about working together to provide complete solutions that could be easier for customers to implement and use.
The Interactive Data Fatca service leverages existing reference data to provide instrument level details that can help organisations subject to Fatca determine US income tax withholding for instruments generating US sourced income. Instruments subject to Fatca withholding are flagged and classified as fully liable, partially liable or exempt. The service also tracks any material modifications to grandfathered obligations within the scope of the regulation, reflecting any change with updated Fatca withholding status and qualifying data.
With the July 1, 2014 deadline for Fatca coming ever closer, the Interactive Data service is ready for testing ahead of implementation and the company is working with clients in Europe to start the process imminently. Charlie Price, senior director of pricing and reference data at Interactive Data, says: “Our timing is good as clients want to test Fatca solutions in-house soon and they need Fatca data to do that.”
Commenting on the scope of the service, Marty Williams, vice president of reference data product development at Interactive Data, says: “A market data vendor has to have comprehensive date to provide a Fatca service. Interactive Data has broad reference, pricing, business entity and corporate actions data that can differentiate its Fatca service in the market.”
The company expects many of its customers to be interested in the Fatca offering and says that, going forward, it will add more data attributes to the service if they are required as the regulatory reporting deadline approaches. In terms of partnering on Fatca solutions, Williams says: “Initially, we will offer a Fatca data service, but we are exploring exactly what organisations will require for reporting and talking to some of the third-party vendors we work with to consider whether a combination of our data and their Fatca solutions could be easier for some clients to consume.”
Williams says the company is also well placed to deal with any ‘sons of Fatca’ that emerge outside the US. He explains: “If other countries take a similar approach, we can look at each country’s securities data requirement and validate that we have the necessary coverage and can assemble a data service.”
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