#Finance #Banking #Regulation #AmericansAbroad
Hey everyone! 👋 I’ve been diving into the world of banking regulations and how they impact Americans living outside of the U.S. It seems like foreign banks are hesitant to work with Americans due to the nightmarish regulations imposed by the U.S. government like PFIC, Section 988, FATCA, and FBAR. 🤯
So, my question for all you bankers outside of the U.S. is: is this really true? Why do banks avoid working with Americans? And most importantly, what solutions do you think banks would be willing to adopt in order to work with more Americans?
Here are a few possible solutions that I think could help bridge the gap and make it easier for Americans abroad to access financial services:
– Streamlining compliance processes to make them less burdensome for foreign banks
– Offering specialized services or products for Americans living abroad to cater to their unique needs
– Providing more education and resources for foreign banks on how to navigate U.S. regulations
What do you all think? Let’s start a discussion and share our thoughts on how we can improve the banking experience for Americans abroad! 💬💡
Its true, the regulation is a pain in the ass. The solutions the banks are willing to accept are either for you to have a lot of money, or that the US government changes they’re laws. Its just not worth the hassle for the banks.
[Not a banker] I can only share my personal experience, but as an American living in Japan, the only brokerage that would take me is Interactive Brokers, for exactly the reasons you mentioned, + I think the W-9 is a pain for Japanese securities companies.
It’s somewhat true, Americans have to be dealt with different compared to all other clients, it’s a hassle for both the bank and the customer
Somewhat true. I live in Japan and the bank I use is very foreigner friendly and was very good at handling the necessary paperwork when I opened it and tax time comes. Though if I were investing or something it probably would be worse. I know it’s a lot of work for the banks, but if they have a high number of American clientele then they’re prepared for it.
Not a banker, but I’ve just moved to the U.S. from the UK and at the basic level everything is much harder to do in the American system and requires a visit to the bank rather than just using the website. And don’t get me started on taxes, seems like the whole system was created to keep more accountants in work
It was pretty painless when I opened a bank account abroad.
Credit Suisse and UBS tried to do an end run against these rules. Look what happened. They continued trying to break the law even after an earlier criminal plea ( which by the way is very rare for financial institutions to do).
https://apnews.com/article/credit-suisse-us-senate-tax-evasion-a4d146fd4606769247f6edf3b9a9dc6f