The Australian Financial Markets Association briefing on the disappearing foreign bank branch company tax payments passed us by in December (see prior article) and it's worth a walk through some content.The sector suffered significant losses during the Global financial crisis, AFMA emphasised. Based on publicly available APRA data, the accounting losses for the two quarters ending 30 September 2008 and 31 December 2008 totalled A$1.7 billion. "The bulk of these losses arose in respect of provisions for doubtful debts which were subsequently written off."Rob Colquhoun, director of policy at AFMA, wrote that "there will generally be a significant lag between the time that the accounting loss for the foreign banks arose and the ability for these banks to claim a deduction for the significant bad debts that arose during the Global financial crisis. "That is, the tax deductions arising from the Global financial crisis arose in income years after the 2008 and 2009 years."The Taxation of Financial Arrangements (TOFA) regime, still pretty new, spelled out a four year adjustment horizon exploited by banks since 2010.The 2013-14 income year, which is the subject of the tax commissioner's December disclosure, covered the last of these years, Colquhoun explained."Many AFMA members held financial instruments at the time that TOFA commenced at significantly impaired values due to the impact of the Global financial crisis, giving rise to a significant negative balancing adjustment," he said. "This adjustment is included in the current disclosures and accordingly can reduce taxable income for affected entities."AFMA said it expects that, "from a sectoral perspective, the tax losses arising from the Global financial crisis have largely been recouped and that future disclosures by the tax commissioner in respect of later income years will evidence higher tax payments by the foreign bank sector."Colquhoun continued: "It is worth noting that incurrence of these losses reflects the commitment of these AFMA members to continuing their important roles within the Australian financial system by remaining onshore and continuing to provide vital services to Australian businessesAFMA circulated the briefing "in advance of the disclosure of taxpayer information by the Commissioner of Taxation in December 2015 in respect of the 2013/14 income year."