GOAL and SunGard Announce Withholding Tax Reclamation Collaboration

Tax-News.com, London

29 August 2003

SunGard Asset Management Systems and Global Operations and Administration, Ltd. (GOAL), an international tax reclamation specialist, yesterday announced a joint servicing agreement. Under the agreement SunGard will deliver an outsource solution for clients to acquire excess paid withholding taxes on their American Depository Receipt (ADR) and foreign securities. GOAL will provide tax reclamation processing from its international processing center in London, UK.

Many investors are unaware that international laws allow them to get back a portion of the withholding tax that they pay on foreign-source dividends, interest and ADR income. However, each tax regime has its own set of rules and bilateral treaties, and withholding and reclamation reclaim rates vary. GOAL’s latest research shows that 27% of withholding tax lies unreclaimed each year, leaving almost $6 billion of investors’ returns in the hands of foreign governments.

Under the agreement SunGard and GOAL will deliver a fully automated, outsourced solution that ensures that all investors receive the benefit of accurate withholding taxation on their global income. The solution not only calculates the amount of tax available for recovery, but also generates and files the forms before working with the local tax administration to rapidly and efficiently refund excess-paid withholding tax in more than 30 countries.

Maryanne Campbell, president of SunGard’s Global Plus operating unit, commented, “We have long recognized that the reclamation of over withheld tax on foreign securities and ADRs can be a sticking point for securities straight-through processing, and we have been actively seeking a solution for our clients in this area. Our new partnership with GOAL provides the kind of quality solution that matches our own client service standards. We are already encountering substantial interest from our client base in our new arrangement with GOAL,” continued Ms. Campbell.

Stephen Everard, managing director of GOAL, adds, “Our new arrangement with SunGard provides a major boost to our growing presence in the U.S. and the Americas. There has been a surge of interest over the last eighteen months in automated withholding tax reclamation as equity capital values have fallen, and as investors have refocused on their dividend and interest returns.

Not surprisingly, U.S. investors and fund managers are putting increasing pressure on their custodian banks to reclaim excess paid taxes efficiently and effectively. Our. agreement with SunGard enables us to deliver our services directly to this segment.”

As a result, automated tax reclamation capabilities are now appearing as a standard item in custodians’ ITTs to their software suppliers.”

Established in 1989, GOAL is a privately owned software and outsource service company developing and delivering business critical tax solutions to global financial institutions. GOAL’s solutions automate the complex, labor intensive processes based on the interpretation of international cross-border treaty law. GOAL’s flagship product GTRS (Global Tax Reclamation System) available as installed software or as an outsource service - helps custodians reclaim tax on income from cross-border securities that has been over withheld by foreign governments based on international double taxation treaties. The company’s client base includes 5 of the world’s top 10 global custodian banks.

SunGard Asset Management Systems provides a comprehensive range of asset management solutions to global financial institutions, regional asset management institutions, community banks, regional and investment advisors, foundations, and fiduciaries. SunGard delivers integrated solutions for investment management, personal trust, institutional trust, employee benefits, private banking, custody operations, and securities lending that enable institutions to profitably serve their high net worth clients. SunGard consulting services help to improve operational performance and productivity.

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