ZKB cancels the mortgages of Swiss citizens who live in the USA
By Bruno Schletti. Aktualisiert um 31.08.2012 08:38
Until recently, every customer had the right to have a Swiss bank account. Yet, the USA taught banks to fear this.
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I can translate this later today if an interest exists, but don’t have time right now.
Just my opinion, but there’s more to this than banks being cautious. The growing trend of foreign financial institutions to deny service to any individual or entity with a US tie represents opening salvos of a trade war between the US and the world’s financial sector. It is prelude.
Add it to the upcoming “fiscal cliff” – sequestration budget cuts and the expiration of the “Bush era tax cuts – then factor in the most toxic and divisive election in US history, the unbending reality of a $15 trillion deficit, bankruptcy of US munipical and state governments, and the ongoing Eurozone crisis.
A perfect storm…
Google translate: A little crude but you get the idea.
ZKB announces Swiss resident U.S. mortgageBruno Schletti. Updated 8/31/2012
Swiss banks, until recently, every customer was right. But the U.S. taught the banker to fear.
The times have changed: Particularly suspect many banks today are all those customers who have a connection to the United States. You can not so good, nor so honest, no matter how clean. You can declare their assets and pay taxes correctly. If they reside in the U.S., today knows some bank pardoning anybody. As a rule, the business relationship is terminated.
Franz Wottle (name changed) is a Swiss-American dual citizens. He lives and works in the United States, but still a close connection to his homeland.He has for years in Switzerland, a property. It is rented and with a mortgage of just under 300,000 francs partially debt financed – at Zuercher Kantonalbank . Wottle at ZKB a fixed mortgage has completed, which expires in 2015.
About 70 customers affected
Complete surprise, he recently learned of his relationship manager that he could not expect a renewal of its mortgage. ZKB spokeswoman Evelyne Brönnimann confirmed: “The hard-or Liborhypothek a U.S. person is the end of the term not renewed in principle and can therefore be considered terminated.” When U.S. citizens are not only citizens of the United States, but also dual citizens or Swiss, who reside in the United States – including Wottle.
He’s not the only one with its mortgage loan to the National Bank no longer desired. About 70 customers are affected by this measure. All must assume that their mortgage is the expiration date back as terminated, even if they know nothing about it. According Brönnimann they will receive a letter in September.
Few alternatives
For those concerned, the question arises: What to do? Very few banks are still willing to take on clients with respect to the United States. Franz Wottle has knocked at PostFinance and is rebuffed. Spokesman Alex Josty namely says: “Swiss, by virtue of the definition also U.S. persons, are included in their entirety – even if they live abroad.” Wottle lives abroad. He is Swiss. And yet he wants PostFinance give no credit. His problem: He is not only Swiss, but also U.S. citizens. Therefore, it comes with PostFinance through the cracks.
It must be added that the bank subsidiary of the Post itself is prohibited from granting loans and mortgages because their policies today will not grant a banking license. Therefore, the financial institution grants loans only indirectly through partners – the Valiant and the Münchener Hypothekenbank. “The partners want to get taught not U.S. persons,” says Josty, “for this reason, the claim was rejected.”
On open ears Wottle met with Raiffeisen , although the cooperative banking group basically had no business with more people comes in, who live in the United States. Spokesman Jens Wiesenhütter but says: “With regard to mortgages for properties in Switzerland to assume that this product is not misused to circumvent foreign tax obligations.” That’s why exceptions are possible, even with customers resident USA. Wiesenhütter but adds, “is indispensable that the customer is tax compliant.” Wottle can hope so. He still has the credit of Raiffeisen not.
@JustMe: thanks for the translation. As you may know, ZKB is the fourth-largest Swiss bank by assets (behind UBS, Credit Suisse and Raiffeisen), the largest cantonal bank and is an important retail bank in Canton Zurich. As others have stated, it appears that UBS, Credit Suisse and PostFinance are still willing to offer bank accounts to US Persons. However, as the article mentions, PostFinance is an intermediary for mortgages from the Swiss Valiant bank (and a German bank) which are not offering mortgages to US Persons. A Swiss real estate broker indicated that only the large banks have been willing to invest in the IT systems and set up the internal processes, including training their people, to work with US Persons.
If the intent of the US’s war on Switzerland was to flush out any US Person account holders in its banks, it has been largely successful.