Per the Bank Secrecy Act, every year you must report certain foreign financial accounts, such as bank accounts, brokerage accounts and mutual funds, to the Treasury Department and keep certain records of those accounts. You report the accounts by filing a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) on Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Form 114.

If you have any interest in, or signature or other authority over, a bank, securities, or other financial account in a foreign country; or if the aggregate value of all the accounts exceeded U.S. $10,000 at any time during the year, please be prepared to provide the following for each account:

* Please provide ownership percentage for each account holder for joint ownership accounts.

** Treasury guidance presently (Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) defines a foreign financial account as any bank, securities, securities derivatives or other financial instruments account. These accounts generally encompass any accounts in which the assets are held in a commingled fund and the account owner holds an equity interest in the fund (mutual fund). The term also means any savings, demand, checking, deposit, time deposit, debit card or credit card maintained with a financial institution or other person engaged in the business of a financial institution. A financial account also includes a commodity futures or options account, an insurance policy with cash surrender value (whole life) and an annuity policy with cash surrender value.