In a press release of 12 October 2012, the Dutch State Secretary for Finance announced that the Netherlands intends to sign an agreement with the US with respect to the application of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) under which all financial institutions have to provide worldwide information to the US tax administration (IRS) about their US clients (see United States-1, News 18 July 2011). The Dutch government expects that such "government to government approach" will reduce the administrative burden for Dutch financial institutions, because they do not have to sign separate agreements with IRS. Instead, information will be exchanged through...