(REUTERS) - The US Treasury Department said on Wednesday it was postponing by 10 days the deadline for foreign financial institutions to register with the US government under a new law meant to combat offshore tax dodging by Americans.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) will require foreign banks, insurers and investment funds to send the Internal Revenue Service information about Americans' offshore accounts worth more than US$50,000 (S$63,000).

The deadline for foreign institutions was postponed to May 5 from April 25, the department said in a statement.