GIIN is an abbreviation of Global Intermediary Identification Number. The FATCA Registration System approves foreign financial institutions (FFI), financial institution (FI) branches, direct reporting non-financial foreign entities (NFFE), sponsoring entities, sponsored entities, and sponsored subsidiary branches. Institutions and entities assigned a GIIN can use it to identify themselves to withholding agents and tax administrators for FATCA reporting purposes. The GIIN, formatted as XXXXXX.XXXXX.XX.XXX, is a 19-character identification number made up of several identifiers. These characters will never contain the letter “O”. Position Character Representation Length Description/Rules 1-6 XXXXXX FATCA ID 6 Numbers and uppercase letters only Lead FI, single FI, or sponsoring entity - same as the FATCA ID. Member FI- first 6 characters of the FATCA ID. FI branch - first 6 characters of the branch’s associated FI’s FATCA ID. Sponsored entity or sponsored subsidiary branch - the sponsoring entity’s FATCA ID. 7 Separator 1 1 Period - . 8-12 XXXXX Type 5 Numbers and uppercase letters only Lead FI- 00000 Single FI- 99999 Sponsoring entity - 00000 Member FI- same as the last 5 characters of the member’s FATCA ID FI branch - same as the branch’s associated FI Sponsored entity - same as the last 5 characters of the sponsored entity’s ID Sponsored subsidiary branch - same as the branch’s associated sponsored entity. 13 Separator 2 1 Period - . 14-15 XX Category Code 2 Uppercase letters only Abbreviation for an FI type, sponsored entity classification or branch type: LE - a lead FI SL - a single FI ME - a member FI BR - an FI branch SP -a sponsoring entity SF - a sponsored entity that is a sponsored fund SD - a sponsored entity that is a sponsored direct reporting NFFE SS - a sponsored entity that is a sponsored subsidiary SB - a sponsored subsidiary’s branch 16 Separator 3 1 Period - . 17-19 XXX Country/Jurisdiction Identifier 3 Numbers only ISO 3166-1 numeric standard country code of the GIIN holder. Note: 999 - country code “Other” Test files that contain GIIN examples are available on the FFI List Schema and Test Files page.
