On December 1, 2014, the IRS released Announcement 2014-38, which provides additional guidance for jurisdictions that are treated as if they had a FATCA intergovernmental agreement (IGA) in effect under IRS Announcement 2014-17 but that do not sign the IGA before December 31, 2014. It also provides guidance for certain jurisdictions that reached an agreement in substance on the terms of an IGA after June 30, 2014.

The Treasury Department maintains a list of jurisdictions that have signed an IGA and a list of jurisdictions that have not yet signed an IGA but that are treated as having an IGA in effect (referred to as agreed-in-substance IGAs). Announcement 2014-17 was issued on April 2, 2014, to provide certainty to foreign financial institutions (FFIs) in jurisdictions that reached an agreement in substance on the terms of an IGA on or before June 30, 2014. Under the announcement, the FATCA status of FFIs in a jurisdiction with an agreed-in-substance IGA would continue without interruption, provided that the IGA was signed by December 31, 2014. As of July 1, 2014, 101 jurisdictions were treated as if they have an IGA in effect. Forty-eight of these agreements have been signed and 53 remain unsigned.

To address concerns about the practicality of getting all the agreed-in-substance IGAs signed by December 31, 2014, Announcement 2014-38 provides that a jurisdiction that is treated as if it had an IGA in effect, but that has not yet signed an IGA, retains its status beyond December 31, 2014, provided that the jurisdiction continues to demonstrate firm resolve to sign the IGA as soon as possible. After December 31, 2014, Treasury Department will review the list of agreed-in-substance IGAs on a monthly basis and determine whether it continues to be appropriate to treat a jurisdiction as if it had an IGA in effect or whether it should be removed from the list.

Announcement 2014-38 also provides guidance for certain jurisdictions that reached an agreement in substance on the terms of an IGA after June 30, 2014. The announcement provides that the following jurisdictions will be treated, as of November 30, 2014, as if they had a Model 1 IGA in effect: Angola, Cambodia, Greece, the Holy See, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Montserrat, the Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Tunisia. In addition, Macao will be treated, as of November 30, 2014, as if it had a Model 2 IGA in effect.