US person. For FBAR purposes, a US person means a citizen or resident of the US, a domestic partnership, a domestic corporation, or any domestic estate or domestic trust.

Financial account. A financial account includes "any bank, securities, securities derivatives or other financial instruments accounts". Such accounts include "accounts in which the assets are held in a commingled fund, and the account owner holds an equity interest in the fund (including mutual funds)." Although the IRS has not issued guidance on whether this definition would include offshore funds, IRS representatives have stated that, for FBAR purposes, they interpret the term "foreign financial account" to include offshore funds, regardless of whether such funds have any offshore bank or securities accounts.

Signature or other authority. A US person has signature authority if he can control the disposition of money or other property in a Foreign Account by delivery of a document containing his signature (or his signature and that of one or more other persons) to the bank with whom the account is maintained. Other authority is, subject to certain limitations, comparable to signature authority. Based on recent statements by IRS representatives, it appears that the FBAR reporting requirements could be interpreted to provide that any individual who has authority to transfer assets into or out of a Foreign Account has signature authority or other authority.

It appears that by 23 September 2009, plan sponsors must file an FBAR for qualified retirement plans with assets held in a Foreign Account that is not a commingled fund for 2008 and each prior calendar year back to 2003 in which the plan invested in such Foreign Account. For example, the 23 September deadline applies to a qualified retirement plan that invests, through a separate account, in non-US securities, if the plan trustee holds these securities in an offshore custodial account in the name of the plan.

Application to US Employee Fiduciaries of the FBAR reporting requirements relating to signature authority is still unclear. It appears that US Employee Fiduciaries of a benefit plan with assets invested in a Foreign Account are subject to the 30 June 2010 deadline, subject to future guidance from the US Department of the Treasury.

The FBAR deadline for 2008, 2009 and earlier calendar years is extended until 30 June 2010 for qualified retirement plans with assets invested in a Foreign Account that is a commingled fund. Presumably, this 2010 deadline would apply to plans with assets invested in offshore funds.