Title of Invention: Document processing systems and methods for regulatory certifications Abstract: A processing system is provided for regulatory or tax status certification of investors. Certificates are generated and synchronized with data. The certificates are indicative of entitlements to own or receive income on securities in accord with various governmental, tax or contractually determined constraints. Interest or dividend income can be paid to eligible investors free (or at reduced rates) of withholding tax once a valid certificate is obtained. Certificates can also be provided to permit a certified entity to purchase investments that are otherwise restricted from sale. Investors or investor banking representatives can introduce investor details into the system for use in generating certificates. Such certificates are sent out for execution (e.g., signature), and electronically transmitted back into the system. Tracking elements are provided to allow the certificates to be automatically matched to electronically stored investor data, thus forming the basis of an executed certification. Detailed Description: Part general_description_paragraphs: This application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 60/873,415 filed Dec. 6, 2006 and U.S. provisional application No. 60/872,543 filed Dec. 1, 2006, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Part TECHNICAL FIELD: The present invention generally relates to automated financial data collection, processing and reporting, and more particularly to a system and method of efficiently collecting and processing investor certifications of regulatory or tax status, such as tax related information. The invention also relates to the synchronization of such certifications with data to establish or determine the entitlement of investors to own or receive income on securities in accord with various governmental, tax or contractually determined constraints. The invention can be used, e.g., to facilitate the payment of interest or dividend income free of (or at reduced rates of) withholding tax to investors whose tax status renders them exempt (or eligible for reduced rates) of such tax. The present invention also relates to a method of using novel electronic communication and tracking technology to allow for the real-time processing and efficient handling of certifications of tax residence (or other forms of legal status). Such certifications may be prepared either by government agencies or private sector institutions deputized to render them. The certifications are usually of a type that must be physically executed (e.g., signed) and associated with underlying information of the relevant investors to form a complete valid tax certification meeting the requirements of the local taxing authorities under whose authority withholding tax would otherwise be levied. It is noted that the term “executed” is used herein in its broadest sense, and does not necessarily mean a physical “ink” signature, although that is a typical scenario. The term “executed” is intended to include, more broadly and without limitation, a signed, stamped, apostilled, officially certified or otherwise legally empowered, legally activated, or legally effective means of validating a document. The invention can also be used to provide other types of certifications. For example, certifications properly linked to underlying information in accordance with the invention can be employed to permit the certified entity to gain access to investments which might otherwise be restricted from sale to the entity. Such entities are sometimes referred to as “qualified investors.” Part BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION: Recent tax withholding legislation has created onerous duties on securities issuers. For example, the kingdom of Spain passed a law on Jul. 4, 2003 entitled Law 19/2003. Law 19/2003 requires issuers of interest-bearing and preferred equity securities in Spain who wish to sell their securities to investors outside of Spain (without the income from such securities becoming subject to Spanish withholding tax) to collect certain information on the identity and tax status of every investor, prior to such investor being paid income on such securities without the application of such tax. Such investor information must be collected together with corresponding government-designed tax certificates containing information about the investor, the tax status of the investor, the income that the investor is to receive, and whether or not tax will be withheld from the payment of income to said investor. Such tax certificates must be generated and certify the accuracy of the corresponding investor information, and must be executed by officials of the banks or other securities intermediaries through which investors hold their securities. According to Law 19/2003, each issuer must compile this investor information in relation to all of the investors of a particular security, as well as receive and review all corresponding executed tax certificates, before any payment of income to the investors of said security without the application of withholding tax. Because such securities generally pay interest or dividends bi-annually or quadra-annually, and due to the fact that the investor base for such securities is always changing, and can certainly change significantly over a period of several months, the entire process of collecting information and executed tax certificates must be completed at the time of each and every payment of income with respect to the securities in question. This creates a data collection, verification, processing and reporting burden for any such issuer. Law 19/2003 allows for certain investors who are exempt from Spanish Non-Resident Withholding Tax to be paid their income in full, without any withholding tax, provided that their identifying information, including country of residence, and the details of the income to which they are entitled, have been properly provided by the relevant bank or intermediary through which the securities are held, legally certifying that such information is all factual and accurate. On the other hand, should an investor not be exempt from Spanish Non-Resident Withholding Tax, the withholding tax (currently 18% of such income) will be deducted from the income paid to said investor on the payment date. Should the issuer not manage to collect investor information, tax status information and a executed tax certificate on behalf of any such investor prior to the payment of income, Law 19/2003 requires that the issuer collect the appropriate amount of withholding tax against any payment of income due such investors, and promptly remit such amount to the Spanish government. Moreover, there are severe penalties for an issuer's noncompliance with these requirements. Such penalties can include extremely costly fines and penalties that are levied by the Spanish tax authorities (i.e., the Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria, or “AEAT”) that can amount to 50% of the total amount of income paid to all investors of the securities in question. Law 19/2003 effectively requires that for any interest-bearing and preferred equity security issued or guaranteed by a Spanish entity and sold to investors outside of Spain, prior to the issuer paying any interest or preferred dividends without applying the collection of withholding tax, (on whatever periodic basis such payments are to be made), the issuer must locate and interact with every bank and intermediary institution through which investors hold such security and request that such banks and intermediaries create, populate and physically sign paper-based tax certificates. The required tax certificates contain (i) the identity of the investors holding securities through them, (ii) the residence such investors, and (iii) the amount of income to be paid to such investors, (with or without subtracting the appropriate taxes) which is commonly based on fixed or variable rates. If variable, the rates are set on a periodic basis close to the date of payment, and this often involves difficult mathematical calculations for each investor. Further, a representative of each such bank or intermediary institution is required to review and sign all such certificates to certify on behalf of their institution that all of the information contained in such tax certificates is completely true and accurate, and mail or hand-deliver the certificates to the issuer. Due to the free-form nature of these tax certificates, the relative complexity of the certificates and the information contained within them, and their multilingual nature, the tax certificates received and processed under Law 19/2003 were often incorrect, improperly formatted, or otherwise not in compliance with the legal specifications for tax certificates mandated by it. The certificates are generally required to be delivered to the issuer a certain number of business days prior to the actual coupon payment date for such securities in order to help offset the time required by the issuer to manually process such tax certificates and investor information. The issuer then needs to organize the tax certificates according to the security to which they relate and the specific payment of income for each such security, and then hand re-key-enter the investor identity, tax status information, and income amount, and organize that data into a format from which the issuer could later produce an annual tax reporting filing to AEAT (called a modelo 198, 193 or 296, each containing records of payments to different types of investors). The issuer would then need to determine the validity of the tax certificates and corresponding information received and direct that income be paid to some investors and some banks and intermediaries at the tax-exempt rate of 0% withholding, or the tax-withheld rate of 18% of total income received. Each such bank or institution would need to receive an aggregate amount of income resulting from the combined taxable or tax-exempt status of all the underlying investors holding through such bank or intermediary institution, and such bank or intermediary institution would have to then determine how to allocate the income among their underlying investors as the total amount received would not be sufficient to credit each investor their income free from withholding tax. Due to the complexity and operational burden these requirements represented for both the issuers and the banks and intermediaries, issuers would often initially withhold tax from all investors on the scheduled income payment dates to allow themselves several days to sort through the stacks of paperwork and determine which investors were unfairly taxed and issue refunds of the withheld amounts to any such investors. Such delay in delivery of the withheld income resulted in costs to investors in lost revenues that such monies could have otherwise generated. Nonetheless, issuers felt that they had no choice due to the intense manual data compiling and checking processes required, and the need to avoid incurring the penalties associated with non-compliance with the law. In addition to the above described direct effects upon issuers, the labor intensive processes of compiling investor information and hand-generating, via word processor, corresponding tax certificates on behalf of each and every individual investor (of which there could be thousands per security per payment), required to be carried out by the tax operations departments of the banks and brokerage firms through which investors would obtain such Spanish securities, and which further would have to be carried out by such banks or brokerage firms several times each year, was deemed by many banks and brokerage firms to be an unacceptable operational burden. Thus, many banks and brokerage firms either refused to allow such securities to be purchased through them, or refused to cooperate with the requirements of Law 19/2003 and therefore prevented investors holding such securities through them from being paid the full income to which they were entitled, regardless of whether or not they were actually exempt from such tax. The net effect of this marketplace reaction in the countries, specifically the United States, where Spanish issuers would seek to issue securities to be sold to and purchased by US investors, was that due to such refusal of many bank and brokerage firms to act as outlets for the distribution of such securities into the hands of investors the market for such securities, despite high investor demand for the securities themselves, was artificially limited, reducing the financial viability of the securities to be issued. Furthermore, were any such securities actually issued and sold to investors through the remaining limited channels comprised by the minority of financial institutions willing to accept the securities, the refusal or inability of this minority of banks and brokerage firms to comply with the requirements of Spanish Law 19/2003 resulted in many such investors being taxed at 18% on any income to which they would be entitled, thereby significantly reducing the effective interest rate of the securities, affecting the realized market value of such securities adjusted to reflect this effectively lower interest rate, and thereby further tarnishing the marketability of the securities. The effective outcome of this situation was that from the time that Law 19/2003 was enabled essentially no Spanish securities subject to the law were issued into the US market. This created an artificial vacuum of Spanish securities in the US dollar-denominated securities inventory and a corresponding hardship for Spanish corporate issuers who were effectively cut-off from a major and important capital base. In turn, this affected the cost to those issuers of raising the capital required to operate and maintain their businesses and potentially could have secondary effects on the Spanish economy and any other capital markets to which such Spanish corporations would need to turn to satisfy their capital requirements. Many countries around the world have followed Spain's lead and adopted equivalent legislation to Law 19/2003 with similar effects on each such country's domestic securities issuers. Many such markets, including but not limited to Portugal, Lebanon, Mexico, Iceland and Italy suffer from similar if not identical operational obstacles to raising foreign capital due to legal requirements for tax certification and reporting that are substantially similar to those of Spanish Law 19/2003 described above. It is estimated that the unrealized market in Spanish US Dollar denominated securities under Spanish Law 19/2003 without a solution such as is provided by the present invention would be approximately $180 Billion. It is further estimated that the unrealized market in US Dollar denominated securities issued from all of the countries that have enacted similar legislation to be on the scale of $600-800 Billion. What is thus needed in the art is a system and method that can overcome the operational inefficiencies and mechanical impediments inherent in compliance with investor information reporting and tax certification requirements imposed by legislation and/or regulation such as Spanish Law 19/2003 and similar laws and requirements in other jurisdictions. What is further needed in the art is a system and method which facilitates such compliance in an effective and efficient way. Part SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: The invention relates to a novel system for, e.g., investor tax status information collection and tax certification processing, and an associated method of efficiently generating and processing underlying documents (such as tax certifications for tax-exempt investors of interest-bearing and preferred equity securities) which when combined together with information for end beneficiaries (e.g., investors), enables such end beneficiaries to avail themselves of certain benefits for which they are eligible. In an example embodiment, tax certifications allow investors to be paid income without tax being withheld, and facilitate compliance with legislative requirements of local taxing authorities. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a system and method involves representatives of banks through whom investors hold securities introducing into the system details of those investors then used by the system to generate tax certificates per the requirements of the relevant taxing authorities. Such tax certificates can contain tracking elements which allow them to be executed and electronically transmitted back into the system, and automatically matched to the investor data already stored electronically, thus forming the basis of an executed tax certification. A computer system in accordance with the invention obtains and maintains executed documents linked to information stored on the system. The system includes a system processor. A database accessible to the system processor is adapted to store information to be incorporated into a document. A tracking element generator, document generator, and communications module are associated with the system processor. The system processor and document generator are adapted to incorporate data from the database into a document. The system processor and tracking element generator are adapted to incorporate a tracking element into the document. The system processor and communications module are adapted to forward the document for execution (e.g., signature) and receive the document after execution for electronic storage as an executed document. The tracking element remains associated with the executed document and links the executed document to information stored in the database. In an illustrated embodiment, the document comprises a tax certification certificate. The document could, for example, also or alternatively include an exchange or extension election for an investment, or comprise a letter of eligibility of said investor to establish their eligibility for some purpose or action, such as, for example, the eligibility to invest in certain restricted-market securities. The document can relate to an investment, with the tracking element facilitating proper association of the document with investor information. The tracking element can contain encoded information. Such encoded information can be interpreted by the system and used to determine how the associated document should be handled by the system. In a preferred embodiment, the tracking element comprises a barcode. The barcode can, for example, comprise a two-dimensional array of squares. The system can automatically read the barcode directly from an electronic image of the executed document. The executed document can be maintained by the system in an electronic library together with metadata about the document. In an example application, the system operates as a securities processing nexus for financial institutions and other intermediaries to effect, review, archive and manage a plurality of transactions requiring executed documents. A method is provided for obtaining and maintaining executed documents linked to information stored on a computer system. In accordance with the method, information is stored in a database. A document is generated with information from the database incorporated therein. A tracking element is embedded into the document. The document is forwarded to an authorized entity for execution, and received back from the authorized entity after execution. The executed document is then stored in electronic form. The tracking element remains associated with the executed document and links the executed document to information stored in the database. The generating step can produce, for example, a tax certification certificate and/or a document that includes an exchange or extension election for an investment. The generating step can also (or alternatively) produce a document that relates to an investment with the tracking element facilitating proper association of the document with investor information. The tracking element can contain encoded information, and can comprise, for example, a barcode. In an illustrated embodiment, the barcode comprises a two-dimensional array of squares. The storing step can store the executed document in an electronic library together with metadata about the document. A compliance document is also provided in accordance with the invention. The compliance document includes information identifying an investor, a document reference number, compliance text, an execution space, and at least one machine-readable tracking element linking the document to data stored in a computer system. The document can be, for example, a tax certification certificate. The execution space can contain a signature. In an illustrated embodiment, the tracking element comprises a bar code. The compliance document can be embodied in an electronic data file. In an illustrated embodiment, a plurality of identical tracking elements are provided on the document for redundancy, each of the tracking elements alone linking the document to the same data stored in a computer system. A system is also provided for controlling the provision of benefits to investors. The system includes a system processor. A library of electronically stored government certificates is accessible to the system processor. The system processor is adapted to interrogate the library to determine if a government certificate is present in the library for an investor seeking a benefit requiring such a certificate. If so, the system processor allows the benefit to be obtained by the investor. The system processor denies the benefit to the investor if the required government certificate is not present in the library. In the event no such certificate is already present in the library for the investor, the system processor can optionally generate an application for such a government certificate. In a preferred embodiment, a unique tracking element is associated with each of the electronically stored government certificates. The tracking element links the certificate with data relating to a particular investor. The tracking element can comprise, for example, a barcode provided on a coverpage associated with the certificate. Part DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION: It is a general object of the present invention to avoid the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art, and thus to eliminate the burden on banks, brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries to manually generate tax certificates so as to be in compliance with Spanish Law 19/2003 and equivalent or similar laws in other jurisdictions. Another object of the invention is to reduce the conventional burden on the issuers of securities subject to Law 19/2003 of manually collecting, collating, reviewing and processing investor information contained in or transmitted along with said tax certificates. Another object of this invention is to eliminate the necessity to delay the distribution of part of the income owed to investors in order to allow time for the issuer to process the required investor tax status information and tax certificates in order to ascertain which investors should be free from withholding tax. Another object of this invention is to sharply reduce the currently necessitated amount of lead time required by the issuers to process tax certificates prior to the payment of each coupon. Another object of this invention is to maximize the amount of time available to banks, brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries to collect and compile the required information about the investors who own the securities through them. Another object of this invention is to increase compliance with Spanish Law 19/2003 and other similar laws over current levels by creating a standard form of tax certificate and a standard process of collecting investor information and generating and processing tax certificates that is universal across all banks, brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries. Another object of this invention is to allow for the real-time review by the issuer of investor information and the actual executed tax certificates being submitted by banks, brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries in the days leading up to the coupon payment date. Another object of this invention is to provide a system of management and storage of tax certificates and tax certification data and documents for issuers of eligible securities and other parties so that they may be easily accessed and reviewed at any future time or date. Another object of this invention is to generate all reports and instructions, based on the investor information and tax certificates collected, required to be exchanged with all parties involved in order to correctly allocate the payments of income to and from all parties involved. Another object of this invention is to produce the records that comprise the tax reporting filings required to be made by the issuer with the relevant tax authorities on an annual or otherwise periodic basis, and to transmit such records to the issuers electronically. Another object of this invention is to allow for the instant and real-time association of an image of executed paper tax certificates with the corresponding investor tax status and information data already registered in the system using electronic document tracking and identification methodologies. Another object of this invention is to facilitate the process of the collection of investor tax status information and tax certificates required to comply with Spanish Law 19/2003 and other similar laws sufficient to reduce the burden over the prior art on banks, brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries such that those banks, brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries will accept the securities in question into, and allow investors to acquire them through their firms, thereby reducing an impediment to the marketability of such securities. Another object of this invention is to create a platform for facilitating the exchange or the extension of certain extendible or exchangeable securities, either with or without withholding tax considerations, and where withholding tax is relevant to the eligible securities in question, in addition to handling the usual tax certification for such eligible securities, facilitating any further tax consequences pertaining to said extension or exchange activity. Another object of this invention is to create a system whereby holders of common stock (which outside of the USA is called ordinary shares) or receipts issued with respect thereto and representing interests therein may request the application of reduced rates of tax withholding to which such stockholders may be eligible. For example, such a request may be made due to the effectiveness and applicability of a bilateral treaty for the avoidance of double-taxation. In such a case, a reduced rate of withholding is established for eligible stockholders depending on the source of the income subject to withholding and the tax residence of the applicable stockholder. Such a system would be, for example, facilitated by an electronic library of government-issued certificates of tax residency. This library would maintain records on behalf of stockholders indicating their eligibility status with regard to particular benefits as well as copies of the government-issued certificates of tax residency establishing such eligibility. Such a library of government issued certificates of tax residence could, for example, be collected and organized using tracking elements and technology similar to that described herein for the collection and organization of tax certificates. A more detailed description of this exemplary Government-Issued Certificate Library System is provided hereinafter. Another object of this invention is to create a system which can be used to establish the eligibility of certain investors to invest in certain restricted-ownership and/or private-placement securities. Such securities could take the form of, for example, unlisted securities made available under Rule 144A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 or under Rule 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Eligibility to invest in such securities may be established through the execution of a document which is collected and organized efficiently in, for example, an “Eligibility Letter Library System” and which is collected and organized using tracking elements and technology similar to that described herein for the collection and organization by the system of other forms of certification, such as tax certificates. Another object of this invention is to create a platform for facilitating the special case of tax certification and documentation activity relating to “Quick Reclaims” or “Quick Refunds” of amounts of tax withheld during the initial “Relief-at-Source” period for a payment made to the investors of an eligible security, involving either further processing of tax certificates, or the submission and processing of other forms of relevant documentation as required by the Tax Authorities under whose jurisdiction the eligible securities in question pay income. Another object of this invention is to facilitate the process of the collection of investor tax status information and tax certificates required to comply with Spanish Law 19/2003 and other similar laws sufficient to reduce the burden over the prior art on banks, brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries such that those banks, brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries who accept the securities in question into, and allow investors to acquire them through their firms, will follow the improved methods of compliance with the requirements of Spanish Law 19/2003 and similar laws and thereby allow the investors holding such securities through their firms to their entitlement of the full amount of income to which they are due to be paid to them on the coupon payment date free from tax withholding in such cases where the tax status of the investor warrants them exemptions from such tax. Another object of this invention is to effectively establish a functional solution to the burdensome requirements of the investor tax status information and tax certificate collection requirements of Spanish Law 19/2003 and similar laws, such that it will be possible for Spanish as well as other issuers to issue securities in markets wherein the operational and mechanical burdens created by such tax withholding laws effectively prevented such issuances from taking place in the past. These and other valuable objects are achieved by means of a novel investor tax status information collection and tax certification processing system and method of efficiently generating and processing tax certifications for investors holding securities that periodically pay income allowing for investors whose status renders them exempt from withholding tax to be paid income without tax being withheld and doing so in compliance with the requirements of the local taxing authorities under whose jurisdiction such withholding taxes would otherwise be unnecessarily levied. Said system is functionally embodied by a computer system and communications infrastructure and a set of procedures and methods relating to how the various parties involved utilize such computer system and communications infrastructure to transmit, collect, process and review such investor tax status information and tax certificates allowing for instant, real-time and intelligent production, organization and transmission of the elements involved. System Overview The present invention can, for example, be implemented in a computer system and communications infrastructure and a set of procedures and methods relating to how various involved parties can utilize such computer system and communications infrastructure to transmit, collect, process and review investor tax status information and tax certificates allowing for instant, real-time and intelligent production, organization and transmission of the elements involved. For ease of illustration the system described will sometimes be referred to herein as “Acupay” or “the Acupay System.” Acupay is a trade name contemplated to be used in connection with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The use of the term Acupay is in no way meant to be limiting, and is only used for convenience in describing the invention. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an exemplary system can be divided into four primary facets, and within each such facet, several large component sections. Such component sections can then be further divided into various functional components, subsections, technologies and interfaces. (The term facet is used herein in the sense of an aspect of an exemplary inventive system, or, in the sense of a module of an exemplary inventive system that performs a certain function or functions). In exemplary embodiments of the present invention a system generally designated 100 can have, for example, four primary facets as shown in FIG. 1, namely: A Submission Facet 110; A Processing and Storage Facet 120; A Reporting Facet 130; and An Administrative Facet 140. Each such Facet can, for example, be divided into large component sections and interfaces, many of which can, for example, be further divided into smaller subsections and components. The various elements (e.g., component sections, interfaces, subsections and components, etc.) of each Facet can be implemented in computer software, firmware and/or combinations thereof as well known in the art. In the descriptions that follow, various components and subcomponents of exemplary systems and methods according to the present invention are described. It is understood that although a given exemplary system, component thereof, or functionality may be described, the invention is not limited to any such system, component thereof, functionality, or combination thereof, each being merely an exemplary aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. I. Submission Facet In exemplary embodiments of the present invention a Submission Facet 110 can contain a Clearing System Participant Portal (the “Participant Portal”) 112, and its subsections. The Participant Portal can be, for example, where most of the data is introduced into the system, and where Tax Certificates are generated. FIG. 2 illustrates a breakdown of exemplary sections that can make up a Participant Portal 112 in exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, a login section 202 is provided, where registered Participants can log in to access the Participant Portal 112. A registration section 204 allows a Participant to register in order to establish an account in the system and confirm their identity to Acupay. The registration is accomplished through an interface (the “Participant Registration System”) provided to banks, brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries (the “Participants”). During an initial registration process, the registration section 204 can include the process of registering an “Account Coordinator” for the Participant Account When Participants register or are registered in the Participant Registration System, information about the Participant is collected. This information can include, for example, information that is necessary to confirm the identity of the Participant. Additionally, information about the Participant that is necessary to be included within the Tax Certificates later generated by the Tax Certification Submission System can be collected. The collected information is stored in a Participant Registration Database. In addition, when a Participant registers it must nominate one or more of its employees as authorized representatives who will have access to the account of the Participant and may log into the Tax Certification Submission System as the Participant for the purpose of submitting Tax Certifications on behalf of the Participant or reviewing existing Tax Certifications submitted on behalf of the Participant. Viewing and modification of Tax Certificates is provided by a user interface (e.g., a GUI) as indicated at box 206. Such user interfaces are well known in the art. The first such authorized representative identified by a Participant shall serve in the role of Account Coordinator for that Participant and approve or deny access to the account of the Participant by additional authorized representatives registered by the Participant. An Administer Authorized Representatives section 208 is provided. This section allows an Account Coordinator for a Participant to designate who at the Participant is allowed to log into a Participant Account, and for what purpose. A Manage/View Authorized Issues section 210 is also provided. This section can be used to require Participants to request authorization from Acupay before they can participate in any Payment Periods for a particular Eligible Security. A View Archived Submissions section 212 allows Participants to view a complete history of all submissions made through their account. Such submissions are typically organized by Eligible Security and Payment Period. Downstream Participants can be managed as indicated at box 214. Downstream Participant Submissions can be michael58@example.org. A Submissions Section generally designated 220 allows submissions of Tax Certification Data to be made. Tax Certificates can be generated from the submitted information in order for Participants to receive income in the right amount in relation to the tax status of the investors holding through them. The Submissions Section includes an interface where registered Participants may submit the identity and tax status information (the “Beneficial Owner Data”) on behalf of Beneficial Owners (also referred to as “beneficial investors”) holding positions in Eligible Securities through such Participant. If the Eligible Securities in question have an exchange feature, any corresponding exchange instructions can be provided through a suitable interface (such interface being known as the “Tax Certification Submission System”). In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, there can be three main subsections of a Submission Section relating to three different submission paradigms. A first of these can be, for example, a One-by-One Method 222, which allows a Participant, for example, to complete a series of forms to allow the system to collect the investor tax status and identity data. In Spain, for example, this data consists of the full name of the investor, the type of investor (e.g., either a physical person, a business or other non-human entity, or an account of the Participant itself), and the country or territory of tax residence of the investor (in order to determine if the investor is located in a Tax Haven Country, a Tax Treaty Country, OECD Member Country, or in Spain. In the case of Spanish Corporations, the full address and Tax ID Number (NIF), the details of the position held by such investor in the Eligible Security, and the Clearing System and Clearing System Account where such position is held will also be submitted. At the end of the One-by-One Method 222, a single Tax Certificate is generated of either type I, II or III—type I for Participant-owned accounts, type II for all other investors other than Spanish Corporations, and type III for Spanish Corporate Investors. Thus, the One-by-One Method 222 is a sub-component of the Tax Certification Submission System that allows for the submission of Beneficial Owner (“BO”) Data on an individual basis during a Tax Certification Submission System session. A second main subsection of a Submission Section in accordance with the invention can be a Bulk Insert Method 224. This method can, for example, allow the same investor information as is collected via the One-by-One Method to be submitted on behalf of any number of investors simultaneously. The data can, for example, first be entered or extracted into a fixed-field data format which is then either copied and pasted into a submission window within the Bulk Insert Method, or uploaded as a text file using a secure upload mechanism contained within the Bulk Insert Method. If the submission contains a very large number of investors (e.g., greater than 500), the Bulk Insert Method can, for example, allow a Participant to log off or perform other tasks within the system while the data is being processed and provide the Participant with an estimate of how long the processing will take. It can also send an email to the Participant letting them know when the processing is complete. It is noted that once the initial processing has been completed for a Bulk Insert Method submission, it has not actually been accepted into the system until a Participant reviews and confirms all of the data that has been received. The Participant can be presented with a summary of totals of the submissions contained within the single Bulk Insert Method submission, broken down by Eligible Security. Then, the Participant can, for example, select (e.g., via a mouse click on a GUI) any element of the summary to see a list of individual investors' submissions which comprise that element of the summary, and then, for example, when any element of such list is clicked on, the full detail of the Tax Certification information being submitted on behalf of that investor can be displayed. If any records submitted by a Participant were not correctly formatted, or there was some error encountered in processing them, the affected records can, for example, show up as errors in the summary and not be included in the totals. The participant may choose to ignore any erroneous records and still proceed counting only the good records, or may go back, revise their submission, and fix the errors detected. Descriptions of what exactly triggered the error warning can be provided by the system, along with every erroneous record. Once the Participant is satisfied with the records being submitted, they can, for example, confirm the submission. Tax Certificates are then generated, depending on the records submitted. Any one of type I, II or III Tax Certificates can be generated, or the same type Tax Certificates may be generated all together, each Tax Certificate containing any number of investors of the same type. A sub-component of the Tax Certification Submission System allows for the submission of Beneficial Owner Data on behalf of anywhere from a handful to many thousands of Beneficial Owners per Tax Certification Submission System session. This Bulk Insert Method can utilize any well known method of uploading formatted raw data into the system. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a third main subsection of an Submission Section comprises, for example, a Renew Previous Submissions Method 226. This method can allow Participants who have previously submitted Tax Certificates on behalf of certain investors during previous Payment Periods for the same Eligible Security to resubmit the same Tax Certification information for the same investor(s), while confirming or updating the amount of their positions in the Eligible Security which may change over time. Additionally, in exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a Participant can be presented with a list of all previous submissions made during all previous Payment Periods for the Eligible Security in question and can be, for example, allowed to select any number of such submissions for renewal. Once selected, the Participant can be asked to confirm or modify the amount held by each such investor and then click continue via the GUI. Once the Participant has selected a body of investors and confirmed or updated their position details, the Renew Previous Submission Method follows the same steps as the Bulk Insert Method described above, starting at the point of a Participant reviewing the summary of submissions being made. With regard to all three of the Submission Methods described above, the current submissions can be viewed with the use of a Submission Viewer 228. The submission viewer can comprise, for example, a screen on a user terminal that displays the current submissions in a spreadsheet format, for example. At the end of each submission, the system can generate one or more Tax Certificates. In accordance with the invention, the Tax Certificates contain tracking elements such as barcodes that link the certificate with the underlying data in the system database. An exemplary Tax Certificate Generation Component 230 is responsible for generating such barcoded Tax Certificates, which must then be either faxed to an indicated fax number associated with a Fax-to-Email Component described in the Processing and Storage Facet or scanned and emailed to an indicated email address. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, when a Tax Certificate is generated an algorithmically generated unique ID number can be assigned to the Tax Submission Data records represented within the Tax Certificate, as well as an additional unique ID number which identifies both the underlying Tax Submission Data as well as the specific version of the Tax Certificate that has been generated. The same Tax Submission Data can be used to separately generate a number of Tax Certificates, such as in the case of some required modification of the data submitted, so it is necessary to keep track of the specific version of the Tax Certificate that has been generated. These numbers can, for example, both be encoded into a special 2-dimensional array of squares that form barcodes which can be, for example, used by the system to instantly electronically fingerprint each Tax Certificate as it is received back from being faxed or emailed. In this manner, the Certificate can be tied back to the underlying Tax Submission Data. Although any type of suitable tracking element can be used, the Acupay Barcode format was specifically chosen for the preferred embodiment of the invention due to its ability to withstand repeated image degradation due to faxing faxes or copying copies (repetitive fading) and still be readable at any angle. The Acupay Barcode is also readable with a high degree of reliability despite various degrees of distortion. In those cases where the barcode is unable to be automatically processed by the system, the unique ID codes, which can be, for example, printed in multiple locations throughout the Tax Certificates, can be read and entered by hand, though in practice it is noted that even Acupay Barcodes that are in terrible condition and subject to severe distortion and fading can still easily be read by the system. An example of the Acupay Barcode (repeated five times for redundancy) is illustrated in FIG. 14B, described in greater detail hereinafter. In a preferred embodiment, the two-dimensional graphical barcodes comprise an array of squares that is capable of being machine-read with high levels of interpretive certainty using computer graphics methods at various angles and sizes. The barcodes can be accurately read even with varying degrees of graphical degradation. Each barcode a set of unique reference numbers encoded therein. The reference numbers are assigned to records in a relational database connecting each barcode to Tax Certification Submission Data and Tax Certificate Generation Meta-Data. In exemplary embodiments of the invention, while a Payment Period is still open for Participants to make Submissions, Participants can, for example, view all of their current Acupay Submissions for any Active Payment Period for an Eligible Security; a Participant can, before the close of the Payment Period, at any time, cancel or modify the Acupay Submissions that they have made; if a Participant modifies an Acupay Submission, the Tax Certificate that was previously linked to that submission can become invalid and can be, for example, ignored by the system and a new Tax Certificate generated in its place, which must then be executed and faxed or emailing into the system. The Participant Portal 112 illustrated in FIG. 2 can manage additional “downstream participant sub-portals”, such as the sub-portal 232 shown in FIG. 2 and illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 3. In particular, as indicated at box 214 of FIG. 2, the downstream participants can be managed by the main Participant Portal 112 of submission facet 110. Downstream participant submissions can be reviewed at Participant Portal 112, as indicated at box 216 of FIG. 2. The Downstream Participant Sub-Portal 232 can be seen, from FIG. 3, to be substantially similar to the main Participant Portal 112 of FIG. 2, with the exception of the ability to manage downstream participants (214) and review downstream participant submissions (216). The elements identified by the reference numerals in FIG. 3 (202b, 204b, . . . 230b) correspond to the like numbered elements of FIG. 2 (202, 204, . . . 230). In the Downstream Participant Sub-Portal 232 of FIG. 3, all submissions must be approved by a direct participant, as indicated at box 332. Thus, the system can accommodate direct participants (e.g., a bank) as well as downstream participants (e.g., subordinate or correspondent banks). More particularly, in exemplary embodiments of the present invention, participants can choose to allow certain banks who hold positions in Eligible Securities through them to log into the Acupay System themselves in order to make submissions on behalf of their own entities or on behalf of their own clients. These subordinate banks are known as “Downstream Correspondent” banks or “Downstream Participants”, and a Participant can register and generate a login for each such Downstream Correspondent Bank. Alternatively, for example, the participant can supply such a bank with a registration code allowing the Downstream Correspondent themselves to register in the system and be added to the Downstream Correspondent Section of the Participant Portal. Additionally, a Participant can add, view, modify and delete the accounts of Downstream Correspondents through a Downstream Correspondent section of the Participant Portal. Submissions made by Downstream Correspondents follow the same general submission methodology and submission methods (one-by-one, bulk insert, or renew previous submission) used by Participants, with the Downstream Correspondent printing, signing and faxing or emailing the executed Tax Certificates. However, each submission made by a Downstream Correspondent must be manually approved by a Direct Clearing System Participant in order to confirm that the Downstream Correspondent does in fact hold the position in question. In the preferred embodiment, any Acupay Submissions by a Downstream Correspondent bank, cvcn those associated with valid executed Tax Certificates, will be ignored unless and until they are approved by the Direct Participant. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, if the Eligible Security for which a Participant is submitting Tax Certification information is an Extendible security or is otherwise subject of exchange activity, Participants can, for example, submit the relevant Extension Elections or Exchange Elections as part of their submissions in the Acupay System. These submissions are then, for example, referenced to corresponding tender or exchange instructions received by the relevant clearing system where the eligible securities are held, for example DTC (Depository Trust Company), APUT (Agent PUT bond) or ATOP (Automated Tender Offer Program) instructions. Even if an Eligible Security is not subject to withholding tax and is therefore not involved in tax certification activity, Participants can, for example, still submit Extension Elections or Exchange Elections into the Acupay System which can, for example, still operate as a management and collection system for the extension and exchange activity of such Eligible Securities. If any tax is withheld on an Income Payment Date, Participants can, for example, under certain circumstances request relief in the form of a “Quick Refund” payment on behalf of their clients for part or all of the withheld amount by providing certain Tax Certificates or other relevant forms of documentation via the Acupay System, as required by the relevant Taxing Authorities. The Quick Refund procedure is explained in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 13. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, Acupay submissions may, for example, comprise the act of generating and submitting documents other than tax certificates. For example, the Acupay system can be used to facilitate requests by investors holding common stock (which outside of the USA is called ordinary shares) or receipts issued with respect thereto and representing interests therein (i.e., stockholders) for reduced rates of withholding tax, in which case such Acupay submissions would be used in the collection and organization of the requisite government issued certificates of tax residency. Such government issued certificates of tax residency would be collected and organized using similar methods and technology as described herein for the collection and organization of tax certificates. For example, the inventive tracking elements (such as barcodes) can be used to electronically match physical scans or faxes of the government issued certificates of tax residency to the corresponding data submitted into and/or stored within the Acupay system. A more detailed description of
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