All U.S. persons with a financial interest and/or signature authority over a foreign financial account must file a FBAR (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts). This is true if the value of the foreign financial account is greater than $10,000 at any time during the year. Failure to disclose foreign financial accounts on a FBAR and tax return results in significantly penalties ($10,000 minimum penalty).

Foreign financial accounts are determined by physical location, not company headquarters. Thus, a Bank of America account located in Mexico IS considered a foreign financial account while a RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) account located in New York City is NOT a foreign financial account.

Online gambling and digital currency have raised questions if these accounts required foreign financial reporting. These accounts essentially act as bank accounts for the following reasons:

1. Customers control access to the accounts
2. Customers are able to make deposits, withdrawals, and transfers
3. Customers may carry a balance in these accounts 

Recent court decisions have overturned rulings that PokerStars and PartyPoker are foreign financial accounts as they primarily facilitated online gambling and are not intended to be used as foreign financial accounts.