Concerns that the proposed Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) would severely hamper the ability of US companies to issue bearer bonds have been eased by an amendment.
The revised proposals were introduced on December 7 and will still ban US issued bearer bonds. But there is now a section stating that issuances cleared through a dematerialised book entry system would be considered as being registered by the authorities.
Crucially, the bill’s grandfathering provisions have been tweaked. If the bill is passed, then the rules will not affect new issuances until...