Since you work for CS, can you tell me as a US resident, if I opened an account at CS's US bank, would I have an easier time opening a CS account abroad (abroad for me here in the states)?[/QUOTE]

No, it doesn't matter. Unfortunately, these days all banks are not very hot with US residents.

One of those few banks(or the only one) i know in this country allows non-swiss resident open account is CIM Banque ( in geneva). And their min deposit is relative low.