Post Finance has a 3a pension special running with 2.5% and they give you 100francs if you transfer your account.

I went to move my account last week. All was great and went fine.
Today I received an email saying that the Post Finance has decided to no longer accept any more accounts with American Citizens and this includes accounts for pensions.


This is going to make it difficult for Americans living in Switzerland. I report all my accounts. It makes it seem Americans are no longer wanted in Swiss Banking.

Yes, it would seem so.

wow...sorry to hear that..I'm glad I have a dual citizenship I guess and did not use my US passport to open accounts...permit is also based on the non-US citizenship so I guess that's OK.

I suspect it has something to do with the US chasing Switzerland for Americans using Swiss Banks to evade tax or so the US claim. You recall UBS is currently in hot water on this.

Sorry 3a, you mean 3rd pillar pension as in the account you can pay 6K in a year roughly?

There was a recent post here from a Swiss citizen who said that the Swiss banks aren't keen on having him as a client because he's residing in the US.

I have always reported my accounts and paid US and Swiss taxes.

It will be impossible to live here if Americans can not get bank accounts.

The US govt went after UBS, not all American citizens. American expats barely have any representation, so I have no idea how to even talk to any one about this.

Markalex, yes the 3a (3rd pillar) pension. There is a 3a and a 3b. The special is on 3a (that you pay in roughly 6000 a year)

Exactly!

...

So simple it is not! All the Banks I know require account holders to sign a declaration that they are not an "US person" (defined as US citizen, US resident, or US green-card holder). Better check the fine print on your account opening documentation.

Hmm. I just got a Post Finance account, what 3 weeks ago? Has it changed since then? That is kind of scary, what are American expats supposed to do?

Magnolia

The mail I got from the bank manager said "as of Sept 30....

So it seems, according the the mail, there is a change. I will vist with him on Monday morning to further understand. They can of course refuse anyone, but adding Post Finance to the list of other banks who no longer accept Americans is not a good sign.

Wow. We got our account in early September. That really sucks, I'm sorry. I hope you can work something out.

Agreed with most of that, but it's irrelevant. Why would Swiss banks want to do business with us if it's just going to cause them problems? While I find it troubling, I certainly don't blame the banks.

I had rather thought that PostFinance would keep allowing American accounts, given that it's not likely to be at risk from overreaching American government agencies (as it operates entirely in Switzerland) but... looks like I guessed wrong. It's a real shame, too, because Switzerland is one of the few countries in Europe where my American citizenship usually makes me feel welcome, rather than spurned.

Ten more years and I'll be Swiss.... click my heels together three times.... ;-)

Just make sure you don't have any pending court hearings in the US you're running from ;-)

PostFinance belongs to the Swiss Government. PF must be super compliant with US legislation.

I received some emails telling me that they think all banks in Switzerland will have to do a lot of extra paperwork, reporting all accounts on US citizens to the IRS, that they now will prefer to stop doing business with Americans.

This is indeed very worrying for Americans resident abroad... but the blame must be placed squarely with the IRS and US policy, not the institutions who have found that Americans now bring a boatload of headaches with them, and as clients simply are not worth the potential for trouble. This mess is of our own government's making.

I would urge all Americans resident abroad to contact your senators and congressional representatives, as well as the members of the Americans Abroad Caucus in Congress. See the ACA website on this:

http://www.aca.ch/joomla/index.php?o...d=47&Itemid=74

American expats are a diverse group, without a strong single voice - we end up under the radar so to speak, our situation is rarely considered in policy making. The only way this will ever change is if we make noise; we need to let our leaders know how such policies are adversely affecting honest citizens who play by the rules, file and pay our fair share of taxes, year in and year out.

Time to get active, folks!

I'm just curious...

If the banks stop doing business with Americans, how will we receive our salary? I think most people have direct deposit. Will they start issuing Pay vouchers for us to cash at the banks...?

The US gov. is expecting the Swiss banks to become agents for the IRS. Reporting securities etc...
They just don't want the hassle. You can thank Carl Levin for this.