Comment by gehwartzen | Hacker News Reader

Comment by gehwartzen | Hacker News Reader

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One thing I will point out is that some of this partially due to coming to Germany with a US passport. Specifically, banks in Europe are increasingly weary of allowing US passport holders to open full account due to the international reach of the IRS and the additional bourdons it creates for banks. A US citizen living abroad still has a responsibilities with regard to reporting financial activities to the IRS. This is an extra liability and risk for foreign banks so in many cases they chose to simply not deal with Americans.

I was born in Germany and have a German passport. When I was a teen my family moved to the US and and have since also gotten my American citizenship. I have been considering moving back. I talked to my aunt who lives in Switzerland who told me not to bother trying to open a Swiss account it’s virtually impossible as long as you have a US passport. Germany is slightly better but at most there are 2-3 (mainly online only) banks where you might be able to get a basic (ie bare bones) account.

The IRS has the ability to compel foreign banks to freeze assets of US citizens living abroad or at least to make it a paperwork nightmare for them. I can understand why a company might not want to promote an individual to senior positions if banks are weary of dealing with them.

This is the case virtually everywhere thanks to FATCA, unless the country’s banking system is OK with getting punished. It applies not just to US citizens, but also to US permanent residents.

Your aunt is sort of correct, but not really.

If you move to CH on your German EU passport, register at the local authorities and get your residency card, most traditional Swiss banks will open an account for you. You just won’t be able to do it online or with the Neo-banks. But an actual physical UBS office or Kantonbank will eventually be able to handle the paperwork for you.

I thought it was a regular thing for Americans or anyone in the world to be able to make a Swiss account? Is that not the case? Or is it different if you live there?

No, most Swiss banks outside something like UBS will these days outright reject anyone with US reporting requirements.

("Private" banks for very wealthy are another thing, but a software engineer isn't their customer.)

If you are not a resident, don’t bother trying unless you plan to have 30M or more in the account.

If you are a resident, you can easily open a normal account in minutes… unless you are US, Russian or Belarus citizen.

I was more thinking a brokerage account for typical stock / index fund investing.

No chance.

Also, really expensive.

I've opened (and used) a Dukascopy account with neither a Swiss passport nor even setting foot in Switzerland.

And I can vouch I had significantly less than 30M haha.

Yea it's weird what people on HN will say with no actual first hand experience.

It’s a very expensive bank.

Compared to a normal Swiss bank: CHF wire transfer and EUR SEPA wire transfers are usually free of charge. Dukascopy charges 2.30 for each CHF or EUR transfer and 19 USD for each USD wire, on top of 0.50% currency conversion.

And, their FAQ clearly states they don’t accept US citizens.

That's not very expensive for a lot of tech workers in the United States. That's why I'm asking so casually. Half a percent for currency conversion is quite cheap.

Y’all need cheaper banks O_o

Well in my case the government would have converted my USD salary into monopoly money at half of its value (that's before any taxes mind you) and it wouldn't even be legal for me to convert it back, so overall it was pretty cheap haha.

> And, their FAQ clearly states they don’t accept US citizens.

Ah could be, I'm not from the US so I can't speak to that.

>If you are not a resident, don’t bother trying unless you plan to have 30M or more in the account.

If you are UHNW every single bank, from private(Pictet etc) to universal, will bend over to have you. For US accounts it depends heavily on what you want to do with it. If it is just to keep your money and do investments by yourself 500k will be more than enough. It will be expensive in terms of trading fees/money transfer fees/ etc versus neobanks but that's the way it is.

The issues come if you want a wealth advisor. There are not that many wealth advisors with an SEC license (required to manage US clients) and most of them simply won't assume the risk unless they can have 1.5mio USD to manage, with something like 0.6% - 0.8% management fees p.a. Below 500k forget it because then you are categorised a private client according to FINMA and it is a pain in the ass compliance wise.

>If you are a resident, you can easily open a normal account in minutes

Depends which bank. Cantonal Bank have fun.

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