Bermuda is ready to sign off on a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) agreement with the US Government, Finance Minister Bob Richards has announced.The agreement, initialled by Bermuda and the US, must next be endorsed by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.Mr Richards thanked the Bermuda FATCA Committee for laying the groundwork for the tax transparency pledge, known as the FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) Model 2.The Island’s negotiating team was led by the Ministry of Finance’s Wayne Brown, with Acting Treaty Advisor Dennis Simons.Bermuda’s affirmation of the tax transparency agreement will help the US in curtailing tax evasion, according to Robert Stack of the US Treasury.The Minister also thanked US tax code expert Mike Murphy, HSBC’s tax expert Lyndon Quinn, and Appleby managing partner and corporate lawyer Kiernan Bell, for travelling to Washington, DC to assist with negotiations.Also commended were Alan Granwell of DLA Piper (US); Senior Crown counsel Shakira Dill; James Berry and Charles Thresh of KPMG, and Paul Eldridge and Colm Homan of PWC.