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GlobeTax was founded in 1992 on the principle that existing service offerings for
processing withholding tax reclaim applications was inadequate to satisfy the
needs of global investors. GlobeTax’s founder,
Martin S. Foont, an experienced financial services industry executive
who continues today as President and CEO, identified this issue and built a
comprehensive solution to address it, at the outset of what would become the
largest expansion of cross border investment in the history of the world. A
primary driver of the firm’s success is that GlobeTax views its clients as
partners. The company’s objective is to anticipate and respond to the needs of
the marketplace and provide the best cross border withholding tax recovery
services possible.
GlobeTax currently offers full service tax reclaim services to all financial
institutions and investor types, including global custodians, banks, brokers,
hedge funds, pensions, and endowments as well as family offices and high net
worth individuals. The full service offering is comprehensive from start to
finish. GlobeTax manages and renews all client level documentation, monitors the
client’s cross border investment income, files all reclaim applications, manages
all follow up and ultimately ensures that entitlement funds are returned to the
client’s account.
Additionally, GlobeTax has become the sole outsourcing provider on behalf of the
four U.S. Depositaries that issue ADRs. In this capacity, GlobeTax manages the
market infrastructure for processing tax reclaims on behalf of holders of ADRs
(American Depositary Receipts). As the central hub of tax reclaim activity on
ADR income, GlobeTax has been able to develop a uniform reclaim and relief
process for the community of ADR holders and their financial institutions, as
well as Registered Holders. GlobeTax leverages its long-standing working
relationships with foreign tax authorities and foreign issuers to offer the most
efficient withholding tax recovery service available in the market.
In 2003, GlobeTax opened its first non-US office in London, England, and hired
withholding tax and financial services industry expert
Ross McGill to spearhead the firm’s European efforts as Managing
Director.
In September of 2005, GlobeTax officially launched the Tax Reclaim Service Bureau
(TRSB) via the SWIFT network (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication). TRSB is the first and only SWIFT-approved and licensed service
bureau dedicated to providing an outsource service for tax reclamation
operations on the SWIFT network. The introduction of GlobeTax’s TRSB offered
SWIFT member banks a full Straight Through Processing solution for filing tax
reclaims on behalf of their clients.
In 2006, GlobeTax launched eTaxData Online, a market reference data product. Since the launch of eTaxData, GlobeTax has expanded their suite of
portal technology offerings to include eDocs, eCerts, eClaims, and ESP. These
interfaces grew out of a desire to streamline client interactions with GlobeTax
and facilitate the process of gathering documentation necessary to file for
recoveries.
In 2009, the firm further expanded its global reach with the hiring of Steve
Farrage, who manages GlobeTax’s new office in Sydney, Australia. From there, Mr.
Farrage leads GlobeTax’s activities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Also in 2009, GlobeTax introduced a new service to assist U.S. inbound investors
in reclaiming overwithheld U.S. tax on U.S. source dividends and interest. In
conjunction with this service, GlobeTax has launched their eClaims portal,
through which non-resident investors wishing to file for tax recovery in the
U.S. can create the necessary IRS forms. For custodians, GlobeTax’s Tax
Information Reporting solution also supports QI and NQI compliance with U.S.
1441 NRA regulations.
As cross border withholding tax issues become increasingly complex and the volume
of international investment continues to grow, GlobeTax strives to develop
services which enable all financial services industry participants to benefit
from the recovery of excess withholding tax, and continues to expand into new
markets. GlobeTax looks forward to the future and the role it will play in
streamlining tax reclamation processes, while maintaining the same commitment to
uncompromised excellence.
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