The Treasury Department unveils a long-awaited model agreement for government-to-government information sharing under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. The pact marks a major development in the implementation of FATCA, which requires foreign financial institutions to report their U.S.-owned accounts to IRS or face, in some cases, a 30 percent withholding tax. It also signals intensified coordination between the United States, other countries, and global bodies to stop international tax evasion. Under the model, financial institutions in participating countries would not be required to report information directly to IRS under FATCA. Instead, they would report to their own governments, followed by automatic exchange of information under bilateral tax treaties or tax information exchange agreements.