Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he’s hopeful he can come to an agreement with the U.S. that will resolve a dispute over IRS disclosure rules that threaten to be costly to Canada’s banks.

Flaherty made the comments to lawmakers today in Ottawa.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, known as FATCA, requires overseas financial companies for the first time to identify their American customers to the IRS and withhold 30 percent of U.S. interest and dividend payments from account holders who provide inadequate information.

To contact the reporter on this story: Theophilos Argitis in Ottawa at targitis@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Badertscher at pbadertscher@bloomberg.net