Another article about Swiss banks getting rid of clients (dual-nationals included). Interesting that Raiffeisen already announced this at the beginning of the year (following the acquisition of Wegelin). Many Raiffeisen clients are also “societaires” as the bank is a cooperative institution (similar to a credit union) and I wonder how the bank can exclude people who are not only clients, but shareholders.
http://www.lematin.ch/economie/argentfinances/raiffeisen-separe-clients-americains/story/10424823
I already wrote a response to the article, please everyone do so. Unfortunately there is a limit of 400 characters and you need to sign up somehow (with Facebook for example).
What astounds me is that no one seems to have yet sued or filed criminal charges for discrimination (at least that we have heard).
Banque Coop is also mentioned in this article for closing accounts as well. Oddly enough, their motto is “FAIR BANKING”.
A few years ago, Raiffeisen said that it would continue to offer services to Americans in limited circumstances. Also, the BCV (Banque Cantonale Vaudoise) got rid of clients resident in the US, but did not exclude keeping clients living in Switzerland:
http://archives.24heures.ch/actu/economie/bcv-lache-clients-etablis-sol-americain-2010-09-10
Except that many of the Americans in Switzerland are Swiss! If other Swiss would abandon them then it means that such Swiss don’t give a damn about our independance or the constitution.
Why don’t we pass a FATCA-like law that requires anyone who ever visited Switzerland before to file bank account reports with Bern? (Hey, we think you stole some of our stuff or worked illegally, while you were here, and oh, you might just be a terrorist money launderer so you have to declare your bank accounts and give up your privacy just to be sure).
And the other thing, if duals and Americans can’t have bank accounts, they can’t have jobs, which means they will be a burden on the welfare system. People complain about gipsies in Switzerland, just imagine 20’000 yanks loose in the woods.
Remember the Vonnegut story? We must be pretty smart and resourceful people eh? That is why the US wants to burden us with handicaps?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron
So renounce and be done with it then. Get over it.
@Dan Because there are many of us who are not US tax compliant, renunciation could mean more trouble. Up until recently, Swiss authorities would say “double taxation is forbidden, don’t pay any US tax on your Swiss-taxed earnings. Your retirement accounts are safe with us and don’t count as part of your declarable wealth”. Now, a few years later, we find we have been baited and switched.
If you have swiss citizenship, then just burn the US passport and never use it again.
http://www.investorseurope.com/usclients/
Investors Europe (Gibraltar)
For MiFID Products :
A ‘U.S. Person‘ is defined as one who is permanently resident inside the USA.
The SEC’s interpretation of U.S. federal securities laws limits Non U.S. Broker-Dealers to working with those permanently resident outside the USA. Non U.S. broker-dealers cannot approach and/ or solicit U.S. resident persons because an Internet Web site is interpreted by the SEC as being the same as a telephone call to a client.
Non U.S. broker-dealers maintaining an Internet Web site can thus only accept a U.S. person if he or she has not been solicited either directly or indirectly through accessing their web sites under the ‘unsolicited’ exemption Rule 15a-6.
U.S.
customers wanting to work with Non U.S. broker-dealers can thus only approach Non U.S. broker-dealers under Rule 15a-6 if they have not been to their web sites and should be prepared to certify this fact in writing to ensure compliance with applicable law. They should also be prepared to certify in writing that they have not been solicited by the company in any manner either directly or indirectly.
For Spot Forex:
Investors Europe does not work with U.S. citizens.
Regarding an earlier post concerning ING Bank in France.
Banks in France can refuse to open
an account and are not required to provide any justification for doing so. Such a refusal is usually due to past
overdrafts or other such incidents.
Per French law, any individual
domiciled in France and any French citizen residing outside of France have a
legal right to a bank account in France. Should a financial institution refuse
to open an account, the customer is referred to the Bank of France who will
designate a financial institution to open a basic services account.
Code monétaire et
financier – Droit au compte – Article
L312-1
La banque peut refuser l’ouverture du compte sans avoir à
vous en donner les raisons, mais il existe un droit au compte. Elle vous indiquera alors comment obtenir la désignation
d’office d’une banque où un “compte
Banque de France” vous sera ouvert. Il fonctionnera alors avec un service de base.
Toute personne physique, domiciliée en France et
dépourvue d’un compte courant
(ou compte à vue ou de dépôt) a droit à l’ouverture d’un compte bancaire en
France. Il en est de même pour toute personne physique de nationalité française
et résidant hors de France.
This sort of law should be passed in Switzerland as well, but I still instist that under the guarantees of economic liberty under the constitution, guarantee of basic services is not enough. If you have 10’000 to spare, you should be able to invest it at a higher rate of return. The investment oppourtunities for USPs in Switzerland have already been limited for a long time.