Swiss Banks React To FACTA, Tell Americans To Close Accounts

A few months ago, Geneva journalist Christophe Ungar got quite a shock: without any prior notice, his local bank closed out his mutual funds account, resulting in considerable losses due to the early withdrawal. This was not an inadvertent mistake, but, rather, an intentional move to oust Ungar, a US citizen, from the financial institution where he had banked for years. “When the bank realized I was American, they started treating me like I had the plague,” he says.

This scenario is all too familiar to another American, Geneva financial adviser Anne Hornung-Soukup. Her accounts – including a pension investment fund – were suddenly closed in recent months by her two banks, each explaining in a letter that its services are no longer available to US citizens.

“This really ticks me off,” says Hornung-Soukup, who adds that the forced early withdrawal of her retirement fund meant she had to pay taxes on it earlier than she had anticipated.

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