Tim alerted me to this article at the Wall Street Journal, and I think it merits the attention of a post. It was well written by Anita Greil, with assistance from Laura Saunders who I have communicated with via email in the past.
I would recommend reading the story and adding your comment as Roger and I have. You will notice that this story has a lot of named sources and quotes. It is not just anonymous references. That makes for a much more personal and effective story that resonants with readers, I think. It makes harder to just dismiss. It is early yet, and I see the comments are already up to 81.
*Mark Twain, I believe this national origin discrimination is widely accepted in America since we live outside of US jurisdiction. Yet, it is obviously a serious problem in Switzerland since US persons are being denied financial services and since, in my case, it is my main reason for renouncing US citizenship. Since renouncing US citizenship, I feel that I’m no longer being discriminated against with national origin discrimination. Some may feel that I renounced for tax reasons, but I have never been required to pay US income taxes while living abroad.
http://www.justice.gov/crt/legalinfo/natorigin.php
Generally, Americans blame Swiss banks for national origin discrimination, but Swiss banks are acting in compliance to Swiss laws and in response to US policy. So, without the US policy, the national origin discrimination wouldn’t exist. Thus, the US government is acting criminally against its citizens living abroad and America would rather pressure its citizens to renounce their US citizenship than for the US government to respect its laws outside of US jurisdiction.
America doesn’t give a tulip about Americans in Switzerland and thus Americans in Switzerland, who are aware of the situation, acknowledge that they must renounce if they can.
As mentioned above, the US Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Donald Beyer, was interviewed for today’s print edition of the Swiss business newspaper
“Handelszeitung” (HZ). Following is an excerpt where he discusses US citizenship renunciations in Switzerland (translated):
HZ: “The tax conflict is causing dual-citizens to give up their US passport.”
Beyer: “At this time this is a greater phenomenon in Switzerland than anywhere else in the world. Most of them are Swiss, who grew up and went to school here. They received the US passport only because of a parent or because they “only” were born in the USA. Still, with the stricter interpretation of US laws the US passport is no longer so attractive. Many of them have lost their bank relationships because many banks do not want to have them any longer as customers. For such people it is simpler to give up their US citizenship. Many hundreds of dual-citizens in Switzerland have done that this year although as a percentage it is still a small number.”
HZ: “Der Steuerstreit führt auch dazu, dass Doppelbürger ihren US-Pass abgeben.”
Beyer: “Im Moment ist das in der Schweiz ein grösseres Phänomen, als irgendwo
sonst auf der Welt. Die meisten sind Schweizer, hier aufgewachsen und zur Schule gegangen. Den US-Pass haben sie nur wegen eines Elternteils oder weil sie “nur” in den USA geboren sind. Doch, mit der strikteren Durchsetzung der US-Gesetze, sei der US-Pass nicht mehr so attraktiv. Einige von ihnen verlieren ihre Bankbeziehungen, weil manche Banken sie nicht mehr als Kunden haben wollen. Für solche Leute ist es einfacher, die Staatsbürgerschaft aufzugeben. Das haben in diesem Jahr viele Hunderte Doppelbürger in der Schweiz so gemacht, aber prozentmässig ist es immer noch eine kleine Zahl.”
@ConfederateH: In an SF/NZZ interview in September with Crown Prince Alois of Liechtenstein, he commented that if Switzerland and Liechtenstein had sat down as equals (“gleichberechtigt”) to negotiate the changes to their bank customer privacy laws that customer privacy could have been better preserved in Liechtenstein. This little principality could not withstand the power of the stronger and it capitulated. The crown prince discusses this topic starting at 40:00 in the attached link:
http://www.videoportal.sf.tv/video?id=e3e690ce-9e11-4ce4-99f0-a96b680a777e;DCSext.zugang=videoportal_sendungsuebersicht
On a related comment, Prince Max, Alois’ younger brother, is married to Angela Brown of New York (and originally of Panama). Although as Princess Angela of Liechtenstein she is likely a citizen of that country by now, I could not locate her name in the Federal Register as having renounced, having gone back to 2000, when they married. Prince Max, her husband, is CEO of LGT, the largest Liechtenstein bank. Although she can likely still maintain a bank account as a dual-citizen, unlike some of us, it would seem prudent for her to renounce so as to maintain a safe distance from the US. Following the incident with the children of the Geneva asset manager at US customs this summer, it might also be best for her to not return to the US ever to avoid being held hostage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Angela_of_Liechtenstein
http://www.lgt.com/en/private-banking/index.html
Robert Woods at Forbes, taking the clue from the WSJ article, has published this…
Americans are Undesirable as FATCA Closes More Doors
There are some good comments there. I added one, but it isn’t showing up yet. Probably too long!
@Just Me
“the peaceful pre-FATCA days are ending”. We can only hope.
A story on Morning Edition about Switzerland. It is short.
Help Wanted In Switzerland: Hunting Tax Cheats
Switzerland, which is almost synonymous with secretive banking, is looking for more staff to handle a flood of new requests from other countries that are looking for tax cheats. Last year the number of inquiries from overseas tax authorities almost doubled, to more than 700.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/foreign_affairs/US_election_unlikely_to_ease_strained_relations.html?cid=33794012
Nov 5, 2012 – 11:00 ‘US election unlikely to ease strained relations’
by Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch
“Regardless of the outcome of the United States presidential
election, Swiss politicians are not expecting an immediate improvement
in bilateral relations, which have been strained by on-going banking and
tax disputes.”……..
……”“Some argue that [Republican candidate Mitt] Romney may have a different
attitude to Obama, but I don’t think things will change as the IRS
[Internal Revenue Service] and Department of Justice have a clear
policy,” said centre-right Radical Party senator Felix Gutzwiller, who
is vice president of the Senate foreign affairs commission.”…
*badger, this is how I also see it. The current situation in Switzerland will persist into the distant future and expand more into other areas, including Canada, regardless of the US reelection of the demorepublican dictator.