Frequently Asked Questions

1. I have not received my confirmation email following registration.

If you have not received your confirmation e-mail, please first check your spam and junk mail folders as the message may have been identified as either. If you cannot find it there, then please connect your IT department, as it may have been stopped by your organisation’s spam filters. Please ask them to allow/ whitelist emails from: @nbr.gov.bh.

2. My Registration confirmation email message has timed out, what can I do?

If the confirmation e-mail has timed out or was originally blocked by a spam filter, please click the “Forgot your password” link and this will resend the message so you can gain access to your account if it has not yet been activated.

3. My registration says Awaiting Authorisation, what next?

The regulator for your FI or Entity will go through a process prior to authorising the entity. This may take a few days. You will not be able to submit returns or reports until the Entity has been approved. You will receive a message once it has been approved.

4. My Financial Year end differs to the Reporting Period. What do I do?

The Reporting Period displayed is the calendar year end for the year that submissions are due. Please choose the relevant calendar year end that the financial year end you wish to report for. On the next page, you will be asked to enter the actual Financial Reporting Period start and end dates.

The information on Reportable Entities with different fiscal years could be grouped as follows:

Ending in calendar year 2020 – Message Header 2020-12-31:

• Entity A: 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020
• Entity B: 1 July 2019 – 30 June 2020
• Entities C and D: 1 January 2020 – 31 December 2020

Ending in calendar year 2021 – Message Header 2021-12-31:

• Entity E: 1 August 2020 – 31 July 2021
• Entity F: 15 January 2020 – 14 January 2021

5. Do I need to Register on the new ITIES system if I had previously registered on the old CBB system?

Yes, you will need to complete a new registration on ITIES as the systems are completely separate.

6. How do I check my Economic Substance return has successfully been submitted?

CBB returns can continue to be submitted.

The Entities screen will show the following

• A red circle with a white exclamation mark if neither the Annual Return or the OECD Online form have been submitted
• A white circle with a red exclamation mark if either the Annual Return or the OECD Online form have been submitted (hovering over the mark will show an explanation)
• A green tick if you have submitted both the Annual Return and the OECD Online form

7. Can I use Microsoft Excel to submit CRS or FATCA returns?

Although Excel has the ability to export as an XML file, it would be extremely difficult to create an XML file using Excel which meets the CRS and FATCA specifications.

Many financial systems already produce CRS and FATCA XML returns and there are also 3rd party systems which can assist.

For low volume and simple returns, you could use the Online Forms.

8. Relevant Activities

For MOICT regulated Entities, they only need to register on ITIES and provide an Economic Substance report if they come under one of the activities listed in the following document.

List of Economic Substance Relevant Activities