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Personal trusts resident in Canada that are not regulated by Canadian law are directly affected by the definition of “financial institution” in the implementing legislation. These trusts are typically family trusts used frequently in Canada for a variety of legitimate and even statutorily sanctioned endeavours, including holding closely held businesses or other investments, income splitting, intergenerational wealth transfer, and post mortem planning. We refer to these types of trusts, which are both residents of Canada and properly classified as trusts under us tax law, as “personal Canadian trusts”. The Canadian implementing legislation alters the definition of “financial institution” — one of the most important terms defined in the Canadian IGA — in a manner that appears to be inconsistent with the IGA, and is more restrictive than the Treasury regulations and the implementing legislation regarding FATCA that has been adopted or proposed in every other jurisdiction with a signed IGA.