In the eyes of the Swiss, the reputation of the United States of America has for various reasons been in sharp decline, and America has been presenting itself to Switzerland less and less as an old friend, and more and more as an enemy. I want to remind our friends in Switzerland, as well as every American in Switzerland, that the US is a friend of Switzerland, and I want to tell you what the Swiss as friends must do.
The US and Switzerland are two of the worlds oldest democracies, and both share the founding principles of freedom and independence. At the time of the American revolution, Switzerland was surrounded by tyrannical monarchies, and its fierce independence and stubborn refusal to submit to these despots earned it the title of ‘Sister Republic’ to the United States of America.
How things can change. In 2010, the US Congress with FATCA decreed that every bank in the world must report to the IRS, or face severe consequences. This is nothing less than an act of war on the sovereignty of every nation. Switzerland must under no circumstances submit to these threats, and we must as friends tell America that they are out of line. Brute force has replaced enlightened thinking, and the language of threats and intimidation have become the norm of US foreign policy.
Swiss politicians talk of appeasing the Americans to preserve our friendship. Real friends however don’t allow themselves to be bullied or intimidated by their friends. America needs to be brought back to its senses, so that Switzerland and America can sort out their differences as equals. Switzerland must not allow itself to be bullied and treated as a vassal state.
This is why I wish to encourage every person in Switzerland who values real friendship between the US and Switzerland to sign the referendum to repeal FATCA in Switzerland.
The Swiss government recently agreed to enforce FATCA on every Swiss bank. They must report on accounts defined as belonging to ‘US persons’. The US government is however the only one who can decide who a ‘US person’ is, and Switzerland has already agreed to accept all future modifications to FATCA.
This is pure bullying against Switzerland, and were any other country to attempt similar legislation aimed at the US, it would be considered an act of war. The criminal actions of a few Swiss bankers are leading to the subjugation of the entire Swiss banking sector (not to mention other sections of the economy), and Swiss politicians have accepted this with hardly a word of protest.
The referendum to stop FATCA has been launched, and a core group of volunteers is fighting tooth and nail to get the necessary 50,000 signatures before the deadline. It’s a difficult struggle though.
The banks and the large parties are too afraid of the US to mount any resistance, and the average Swiss voter doesn’t yet see how FATCA will affect them personally. By the time they do, it will be too late.
This referendum is a small grass roots movement that needs your help.
Here’s what you can do:
– Go to www.stop-fatca.ch, download the referendum sheet (http://www.lldc.ch/wa_files/referendum_fatca.pdf), and get as many signatures as possible. If you can’t sign yourself (you must be Swiss to sign), find a friend who is willing to sign.
Then send the sheet to:
FATCA
Le Lobby des Citoyens
Rue du Conseil-Général 20
1205 Genève
Please try to send your letters before 16 December. The holiday season means that most communes will be closed, and it will be very difficult getting the signatures validated in time for the 16 January deadline. Every signature counts though, so keep them coming until the very end.
If every American in Switzerland could just get one or two signatures, we’d easily have enough signatures, and we would be making a giant leap towards killing FATCA for good.
– We need every volunteer who is willing to help us. We are working hard and setting up stands to inform people and to collect signatures. But we need help. If you have the time, and are willing to stand outside in the ever colder weather, we’d love to have your support. Send an email to: info@lldc.ch or call 022 807 08 32 to find out more.
– Contact your local representatives and political leaders and ask what they are doing about FATCA. The large Swiss parties have sold out the country to protect the interests of the large banks. They are hoping this law will pass unnoticed. We need to make some noise and stir things up.
FATCA is a steamroller coming down on the world economy, and Americans abroad are going to be this law’s first victims. We can choose to fight and stop FATCA in its tracks, and if we work together we will succeed.
Spread the word to as many people as possible, and good luck!
Richard
@Swisspinoy
That’s a great idea! Contact the commune or Gemeindepolizei and get a spot for a stand. I’ll talk to Marc Studer to get sign. We are low on German speaking volunteers, but I could come help you. Go for it!
A tweet I just saw…
https://twitter.com/DemocrWatchdog/status/405033144489086976
@FATCA_Fallout @StopFATCA @RepealFatca Opened an account today. Had to declare I’m not American.
@Swisspinoy – The Christmas market is very close to where I live. If you plan to set-up a stand, thanks to communicate this info as I could help as well.
Normally, one has to reserve the booth about one year in advance and it costs CHF 600 because it is the most profitable of all the markets. But, I can call the guy who organizes it and see what he has to say. I’m not sure if they like political stuff for holiday events. My time is limited since my wife just gave birth and I had to use up all of my vacation days to help her. So, I can help out a bit, but my time away from home is limited. 🙁
Shouldn’t this be in the interest of ASO to support? At least those ASO members that are also tagged as USPs should have an interest.
http://aso.ch/en/politics
I leave it to others to contact them …
Is it just Swiss only who can sign or those of us who’ve lived in Switzerland and have voting rights now? Some of the cantons like mine allow foreigners to vote so could be another source of signatures. I’ve been thinking of signing, but not sure if I can.
Also can you just print the form off, sign it and send it back if there’s only you who wants to sign?
I’m afraid not. You must be able to vote on the federal level, i.e. be a Swiss citizen.
… and yes, one signature is fine. Print, fill out the name and post code of the commune above, and below the names and signatures of anyone willing to sign.
50’000 is not much if everyone puts in some effort.
Good luck!
http://www.lukas-reimann.ch/ger_details_921/Swiss_oppose_FATCA-agreement_and_prepare_a_national_referendum.html
‘Swiss oppose FATCA-agreement and prepare a national referendum’
“Following the ratification of the FATCA agreement by the federal Parliament, a nation wide referendum committee was set up to prepare a vote by the Swiss people who should have the final word on the application of FATCA in the country. The committee criticises that the Swiss parliament complied with the US government’s will to impose its domestic tax laws also upon Switzerland…..”….
Good read. Thanks, badger.
For anyone interested in helping, we’ll be collecting signatures in Montreux this Saturday. We’ll be starting in the morning, and finishing around 17h. It’ll be at place de la paix (big covered market) by the main street. Volunteers are always welcome!
This is a great idea but if the IGA is cancelled then the various mitigations the Swiss govt negotiated to give some protection to account holders will be gone and the US will apply full force of FATCA directly to the Swiss banks and the threat of 30% witholding tax on income from USA sources will get the banks to comply. Still, Switzerland has a world reputation and it would be a major (and well deserved) black eye for the US if the Swiss stood up to them. It might well encourage other resistance and help bring the Americans to reconsider this imperialistic initiative. I hope you do it.
@Don B.: As you rightly point out, a downside to overturning the FATCA IGA via a Swiss referendum would be that some negotiated benefits would be lost. On the other hand, unless granted an exemption by the Swiss government, bank employees who turned over bank account information to the US could be charged with espionage which should prevent most from doing so. Absent the FATCA IGA and corresponding Swiss law, Swiss bankers would be caught between a rock and a hard place. Please see the recent Handelszeitung article on a former UBS banker who has been cooperating with the IRS and is under investigation for espionage for a foreign power:
http://www.handelszeitung.ch/unternehmen/ex-banker-renzo-gadola-verdacht-auf-spionage-524901
@Innocente, don’t kid yourself. With or without an IGA the Swiss banks, and others around the world, will provide the IRS with info. They can’t do anything else if they want to stay in business. Only a repeal of FATCA is going to stop this, nothing else. A refusal by the Swiss people will go some way to help that cause I hope, but it won’t stop the banks passing on info as required unless FATCA is off the statute books.
The way I see it if the banks don’t comply, not only will the US start dragging them through the courts again, staff in US branches of foreign banks will be arrested and charged with helping tax evasion, etc, crippling banks’ business dealings in the US.
Swiss banks, Bern, the US: tough friendships
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / EDITOR’S NOTEPAD – Longtime friends but not lovers: the US-Swiss relationship has always had its ups and downs, with mutual trust tempered by a certain amount of distrust on both sides. Most recently, the tensions have centred around spying by the American NSA and banking relationships. Here’s a roundup of what’s happening.
Read more here…
http://genevalunch.com/2013/12/02/swiss-banks-bern-us-tough-friendships/
@all
I hope that referendum does come to be. If the Swiss can do it and Canada says no…FATCA be dead.
GenevaLunch has an article covering FATCA and other issues causing friction between Switzerland and the US (see section “Fatca, go home”):
http://genevalunch.com/2013/12/02/swiss-banks-bern-us-tough-friendships/
The article also mentions that the FATCA issue is heating up in France:
“A banker close to a number of French banks told GenevaLunch that many of them are pulling their financial investments out of the US as the Fatca deadline draws near. US citizens in France could find within months that they, too, are considered a liability by their banks. “
Unfortunately, it is not allowed to collect signatures during the Christmas market 🙁
If it’s public space, I don’t think they can forbid it. You just need permission from the Gemeindepolizei.
No, I think they’d need more than that at Christmas time. But is it possible to set up somewhere nearby? Not in the actual market area itself, but in a side street or just outside the designated market area?
@AJ, the police is the organizer that I spoke with and he said that it is forbidden. This is the person: http://www.bremgarten.ch/de/verwaltung/personenregister/?personen_id=67067
@Innocente
The Swiss are really over a barrel, aren’t they? Sounds like the banks are getting railroaded into entering amnesty programs with the US, because after all, who can say whether all of their US customers have been properly taxed by the US or not?
@bubblebustin
Several weeks ago a DOJ official said that if a single bank account belonging to a USP were identified which the account holder had not properly reported then the bank would be classified as a Category 2, i.e., no de minimus number of accounts. The fines for a Category 2 bank are so high that many banks are expected to fail if they are so classified. Without a doubt, just as in Canada, there are dual USCs and CH and other citizens who are technically USPs who have not filed US taxes. This effort to push as many banks into Category 2 appears to be an effort by the USG to grab as much money from banks in Switzerland as possible.
GenevaLunch published an article today on recent developments:
http://genevalunch.com/2013/12/03/banks-ending-year-letters-us-clients/
L’Agefi published this editorial today, referenced in the GenevaLunch article:
http://www.agefi.com/une/detail/archive/2013/december/artikel/us-program-ils-devront-fournir-les-memes-documents-que-ceux-ayant-tente-de-cacher-leur-argent-au-fisc.html
– It is behind a pay-wall but can be opened by putting the title in Google “Citoyens US en règle également visés” and then opening it from Google.
Below is an (inadequate) translation of the first paragraph of the L’Agefi article:
“US citizens in good standing are also targeted
Tuesday, 3/12/2013
US program. They must provide the same tax documents as those who tried to hide their money.
Jonathan Lachowitz
We can say loud and clear that we understand your message, dear Department of Justice (DOJ ) and IRS. We being a large number of Americans abroad and Swiss finance professionals. In recent decades, most of us have done their best to comply with the US tax system. But, dear DOJ and IRS, be honest: even a majority of your own staff does not have a sufficient level of understanding of tax laws to be able to respond to requests that we made over the years. All those pesky FBARs were rather designed for drug dealers and terrorists, not for Americans abroad. Maybe we made some mistakes, but we are certainly not conducive to any form of tax evasion. You should understand the difference between an overseas American living in Switzerland with a Swiss account and a wealthy resident of the United States who stashed his cash abroad with usually a huge bank balance. Switzerland is an important partner of the US government, such as the American community overseas. Bury the hatchet to move forward together. When reviewing banks classified in category 2 and 3, try to distinguish between your US account holders who live and work overseas, and those who hide their money abroad. Do not let the program take longer than necessary, and, please, stop bragging about amounts collected through the voluntary reporting program, unless you separate the ridiculous FBAR fines.”
From reading message boards and talking to people, the situation has become quite tense again for USCs, similar to the fall of 2012. A possible difference from last year is that there is a growing hostility towards the US.
@Innocente, yes I got a letter from PostFinance here in Switzerland today. This is what it says:
“As you may be aware from media reports, the Swiss Federal Department of Finance and the US Department of Justice (the “US DOJ”) have issued a joint statement (the “Joint Statement”) regarding the tax dispute between Swiss banks and the US on August 29, 2013. On the same day, the US DOJ released its “program for non-prosecution agreements or non-target letters for Swiss banks” (the “Program”).
We recommend to all our clients who are US taxpayers to be fully tax compliant and, if you are not tax compliant, we strongly recommend to participate in a voluntary disclosure program (the “VD Program”) put in place by the US-Internal Revenue Service for non tax-compliant US clients. Further information on the VD Program is available on the following website: http://www.irs.gov/uac/2012-Offshore-Voluntary-Disclosure-Program.
Should you decide to participate in the VD Program, we would be grateful if you could please submit a confirmation via email or postal mail (for example, by sending the “IRS acceptance letter into the VD Program” or the “closing agreement” in case the process has been already completed) before December 31, 2013.”
I’ll send them copies of my CLN and the Streamlined Questionnaire I sent off with the FBAR’s and see what they say after that.
@innocente
What’s to stop DOJ and IRS to doing this to Canadian banks if we say ‘no’ to FATCA? Is Canada technically a tax haven because our banks have been harbouring US tax evaders?