[gamblor956]

I actually work in this field, and I interact with banks regularly.

The FATCA requirements are actually quite simple, and the theoretical penalties are just that--theoretical.

As a practical matter, the FATCA US customer report is satisfied by a relative spartan list of names, tax ids, account numbers, and balances. In other words, something a simple report should be able to generate in about .000001 seconds.

If a bank can't handle that type of compliance, you should take your money elsewhere because it indicates serious internal control issues.

[eesmith]

Your answer seems to be that "yes, banks and other businesses globally are forced to become extensions of the US government without receiving funding to do so" (quoting miscreanity) and "Pakistani banks themselves [have] reporting requirements to the US" (quoting throwaway676980) ... so long as they have an account in the US (my link). I believe that includes Swift accounts?

I don't think they are really asking about the ease by which a bank should be able to generate that report, but rather the necessity to do so.