4 ms·

If you’re a US citizen living in another country you’ll find many banks and financial institutions decline to have you as a client because dealing with FATCA m

If you’re a US citizen living in another country you’ll find many banks and financial institutions decline to have you as a client because dealing with FATCA makes it far more trouble than it’s worth. No other developed country makes similar demands.

colechristensen 5y ago
But like wouldn’t you be fine once you found one?
- nicolas_t 5y ago
  No, even if you can open a bank account as a US citizen, most services will be restricted. If you want to get a life insurance, they won't have anything for you, if you want to open an investment account, same issue, etc... So, first it's difficult to find banks that'll even accept US citizens and then once you do, it can still be very restrictive.
  - marstall 5y ago
    that does sound like a hassle.
  - atourgates 5y ago
    Is dual citizenship any help with this issue? Say you're a dual US / German citizen. Will that help a German bank more easily bank with you? Do you even have to disclose to the bank that you're a dual citizen, or can you simply present yourself as a German citizen?
    - fh973 5y ago
      In my experience, US tax residency (as a solely German citizen) is enough for German and Swiss banks to cancel services. So dual citizenship likely won't help. You may misrepresent your tax status towards the bank, but I'd assume that takes you on risky grounds, legally.
    - cr1895 5y ago
      Doesn’t matter, all that counts is if you are a “US Person”: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/classification-of-taxpayers-for-us-tax-purposes https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/clas... Whether the bank finds out or not is maybe another thing, but in principle what matters is if you count as a US Person.
    - Scoundreller 5y ago
      It depends. Some countries won’t let banks refuse to open an account. I’m sure some people lie to their bank (or continue to hold accounts from before they would ask these questions). But it’s more complicated if your place of birth is USA. But that could be bypassable too if you have the right documents.
  - swebs 5y ago
    I haven't run into much trouble, though maybe I just got lucky with Nordea.
marstall 5y ago
oh ha. somehow thought it was much more sinister
xxpor 5y ago
And yet the pandora papers aren't getting much coverage in the US because there aren't that many Americans named in them. Gotta wonder if the two are connected.
- gumby 5y ago
  Actually the US has many ways to hide your assets (just looks at the South Dakota trust system). Look at the pandora papers and you'll see a lot of people hiding their assets in the uSA.

colechristensen 5y ago

But like wouldn’t you be fine once you found one?

nicolas_t 5y ago
No, even if you can open a bank account as a US citizen, most services will be restricted. If you want to get a life insurance, they won't have anything for you, if you want to open an investment account, same issue, etc... So, first it's difficult to find banks that'll even accept US citizens and then once you do, it can still be very restrictive.
- marstall 5y ago
  that does sound like a hassle.
- atourgates 5y ago
  Is dual citizenship any help with this issue? Say you're a dual US / German citizen. Will that help a German bank more easily bank with you? Do you even have to disclose to the bank that you're a dual citizen, or can you simply present yourself as a German citizen?
  - fh973 5y ago
    In my experience, US tax residency (as a solely German citizen) is enough for German and Swiss banks to cancel services. So dual citizenship likely won't help. You may misrepresent your tax status towards the bank, but I'd assume that takes you on risky grounds, legally.
  - cr1895 5y ago
    Doesn’t matter, all that counts is if you are a “US Person”: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/classification-of-taxpayers-for-us-tax-purposes https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/clas... Whether the bank finds out or not is maybe another thing, but in principle what matters is if you count as a US Person.
  - Scoundreller 5y ago
    It depends. Some countries won’t let banks refuse to open an account. I’m sure some people lie to their bank (or continue to hold accounts from before they would ask these questions). But it’s more complicated if your place of birth is USA. But that could be bypassable too if you have the right documents.
- swebs 5y ago
  I haven't run into much trouble, though maybe I just got lucky with Nordea.

marstall 5y ago

oh ha. somehow thought it was much more sinister

xxpor 5y ago

And yet the pandora papers aren't getting much coverage in the US because there aren't that many Americans named in them. Gotta wonder if the two are connected.

gumby 5y ago
Actually the US has many ways to hide your assets (just looks at the South Dakota trust system). Look at the pandora papers and you'll see a lot of people hiding their assets in the uSA.