But what is this exactly?

但究竟什麼是肥咖條款？

No, not exactly.

不，確切來說並不是

FATCA is actually a US law and means "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act."

肥咖條款其實是一條美國法規，它的意思是「外國賬戶稅務合規法案」

It's really not as complicated as it seems.

它並不像它外表看來的那麼複雜

Basically just like many other countries, the USA is dealing with a huge budget deficit.

基本上就像其他國家一樣，美國正在面臨巨額的財政赤字

That's why the USA needs money.

這就是為什麼美國需要錢

And what are the possible sources of a income for a country like this?

而對於面臨這種問題的國家，有哪些可能的收入來源？

That's right.

沒錯

One possibility is through taxes.

有一個可能性是透過稅金

In the past, the USA didn't take full advantage of this possibility.

在過去，美國並沒有完全善加利用這項可能性

After all, every US citizen who lives abroad actually has to pay taxes in the USA,

畢竟每一位住在國外的美國公民實際上都必須要在美國繳稅，

but only a few really do so.

但只有一些人真的有做到

This means the United States are losing a lot of money.

這代表美國正在流失很多金錢

That's why the US government passed the new FATCA law.

這也是為什麼美國政府通過新的肥咖條款法規

Foreign banks such as banks in Germany

像是在德國的外國銀行，

are now supposed to identify which of their customers are US citizens,

現在必須要辨認出他們的客戶是否有美國公民，

private customers as well as corporate customers.

不論是個體客戶或企業客戶

Even all shareholders who are US citizens

即便是公司中有具美國公民身份的股東，

and hold more than 25 percent of a company are affected.

並且持股超過百分之二十五的都會受影響

The banks then send this select information about their American customers to the

銀行會將這些篩選出來的美國客戶的訊息寄到

German Federal Tax Office

德國聯邦稅務局，

in compliance with standards set forth in German data protection laws.

並且篩選的訊息會遵循德國資料保護法的陳述標準

This central federal office collects the information from every bank,

這個中央政府辦公室 (德國聯邦稅務局) 蒐集來自每家銀行的資料，

pulls it and sends this on to the IRS, the American tax authority.

匯集並寄送到美國國家稅務局，也就是美國的稅務當局

This sounds like a lot of work.

這聽起來是很大的工程

Why actually?

為什麼要這麼做？

Why should people in Germany care about the tax laws in the USA?

為什麼德國人要在乎美國的稅法？

Can't we just ignore them?

難道我們不能無視這些事嗎？

Well, we could if there wasn't this little addendum to the FATCA law.

這個嘛...如果不是肥咖法規中的一條附加條款，我們當然可以這麼做

Every bank that does not cooperate will automatically be charged

每間不合作的銀行會被自動加課

a 30 percent penalty on all yields in the USA.

百分之三十的罰款在所有於美國產生的投資收益上

This doesn't only affect the bank,

這不僅影響了銀行，

but also the bank's customers, the Germans as well as the Americans.

也影響了銀行的客戶們，不論是德國或美國的都一樣

A regular transfer from your great aunt in California, yields on Apple shares

來自加州姑婆經常性的轉帳、蘋果股票的投資收益

or interest on US government bonds, only seventy percent would ever be credited.

或美國政府債券的利息，只有百之七十的收益會到你的銀行帳戶

The HypoVereinsbank is avoiding these penalties for the bank and its customers

德國裕寶聯合銀行正在防範對銀行和銀行客戶產生這項罰款

and is compliant with FATCA.

並且遵循肥咖條款

In this way, we get 100 percent of our US yields

這麼做的話，我們可以拿到百分之百的美國投資收益

and the USA is able to take in tax income for its citizens abroad.

而美國可以收到來自國外公民的稅款收入