FATCA and AEOI regulations:
Nickel is a payment institution that has been officially approved by the Banque de France to carry out its activities.
As such, Nickel must apply the regulatory standards to which banking institutions are subject.
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Since 1 July 2014, the FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) regulations have been applied in France. It requires banking institutions to identify their customers who meet the definition of "US Person" and to transmit information about them to the tax authorities.
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Since January 1, 2016, the AEOI (Automated Exchange of Information) regulation has been applied in France. It requires banking institutions to know the tax residence(s) of their customers and to collect tax information about them in order to combat fraud and tax evasion as soon as they open their account(s) and throughout the contractual relationship.
A mandatory form:
Customers are required to complete a form at least once when opening their Nickel account. This form consists of two parts:
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Declaration of tax residence(s) (AEOI)
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Declaration of Americanity (FATCA)
You can download the paper version by clicking here.
Information requested by the FATCA-AEOI forms:
The FATCA regulation is an American regulation to which France is subject. It concerns "US persons", who are US residents and/or citizens. Persons born in the United States who are not U.S. citizens must provide proof that they are not automatically considered a "U.S. Person.
The AEOI regulation is applied in more than 100 countries, including France. It provides that banking institutions in the signatory countries shall provide their tax authorities with information on persons who declare themselves to be at least tax resident in that country and who hold a bank account there. This information is then transmitted between each AEOI signatory country. The local tax authority regularly sends to each other tax authority of the signatory countries, the information concerning the clients whose tax residence(s) is (are).
What information is collected?
Nickel collects through these forms information on the account holder such as :
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Name, first name, personal details of the account holder
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The account number
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The account balance
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Any financial income of the account holder paid by Nickel
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Country or countries of residence for tax purposes
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The Tax Identification Number (TIN) for each country of declared tax residence
We do not only accept French tax residents, we accept all clients with at least one tax residence in the EU or EFTA, who do not meet the definition of US Person.
For any event affecting your tax residence (change of tax residence, new tax residence,...) you must alert Nickel as soon as possible via the contact form.
To whom is this FATCA-AEOI tax information sent?
This information is sent to the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques, which forwards it either to the US tax authorities in the case of FATCA, or to the tax authorities of the AEOI signatory countries for each client concerned, in the case of AEOI.
Do I have to answer the FATCA-AEOI questionnaire and provide the requested documents?
Yes, FATCA and AEOI are mandatory tax regulations in France.
Without this fully completed information, Nickel, like any other similar institution, is forced to block your account.
Without this fully completed information, Nickel, like any other similar institution, is forced to block your account.
Validation of the questionnaire is mandatory in order to finalize the account opening.
If you declare one or more countries of tax residence, your account will be blocked until you have completed your tax information on your customer area.
If you declare one or more countries of tax residence, your account will be blocked until you have completed your tax information on your customer area.
During the life of your account, if we detect elements that may indicate a change in tax status, we will resubmit the form to you.
If you do not reply within 1 month, we will contact you again. 30 days after this reminder, and without any response from you, we will have to inform the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques.
My account has been closed due to an unfilled questionnaire. Can I request to reopen my account?
Yes, a closed account may be subject to a request to reopen. This request is made by contacting the customer service by phone 02 891 29 80.
