US-members attention please!

[sudelmuk]

does someone can tell me if there are any government restrictions for US-citizens to open an account at a foreign (European) bank and/or referring
money back and forth?
are there more possible obstacles as (automatical?) report duties, denouncements, height of referrals or other regulations concerning money laundering and terrorism financing?
need these informations for professional duties; any sincere advice will be highly appreciated - please contact me via pm :tinysmile_kiss_t4:

 

[HAZORD]

Since 911, it is hard for U.S. citizens to get a bank account in the United States, due to the worry that money would be transferred to terrorists here.

 

[Gspragge]

U.S. Customs

some times ask if I have $10,000.00 or more with me !

I look the company I'm with - would I travel with that lot if I did ~

Seriously, there may be a limit above which the amount has to be declared or something. Maybe just go to a Branch of a U.S. bank over there , they should be able to clarify anything.

 

[tc464]

does someone can tell me if there are any government restrictions for US-citizens to open an account at a foreign (European) bank and/or referring
money back and forth?
are there more possible obstacles as (automatical?) report duties, denouncements, height of referrals or other regulations concerning money laundering and terrorism financing?
need these informations for professional duties; any sincere advice will be highly appreciated - please contact me via pm :tinysmile_kiss_t4:

My father (American) has had a foreign bank account in South Africa for 30 years with no issues. Transferring between banks hasn't been much problem but he has to do wire transfers, which has fees usually. Also, I think any transaction over $5,000 gets automatically reported to the IRS but he and I never see any of that, it just happens. If I were to set something like that up I would look for a bank that had branches in both countries, like Barclays, or Wells Fargo maybe. I bet it wouldnt be much problem then except for maybe currency conversion, etc.

 

[E-tech]

Working with a bank that has branches internationally, or working with a bank that does almost everything online (like USAA) may help get around a few problems- the bank should know when taxes/duties should apply. If the money is moved from one account to another and the bank is found either online, or in both countries you plan to work in, the bank should be able to answer those questions for you.

 

[ogreve]

Hi,

What I do know, is that over here in The Netherlands, the US government has a legal right to inquire about transactions made using the SWIFT (= BIC) network. Apparently 9/11 was financed using all sorts of small transactions that leapt from account to account and ended up in Panama or so.

The following things should be considered actions that can draw special attention from the FBI:
-Many transactions, especially to varying account numbers.
-Extremely high amounts being transfered (I think anything above $10.000 automatically ends up on the FBI's plate).
-Transactions routed to different end-users, through other users in the USA.
-Possibly anything going from the USA to notorious countries like Panama, Maldives, etc.
-Any transaction using the SWIFT network (mind you: these are probably millions a year).

I know some of this as last year we needed to send money to family members who live in Venezuela, and have a US bank account. I too didn't want to end up on some black-list or investigation list, so I read up on some of these things. The above more or less depicts what I managed to find out about it, or at least, as far as I remember what it was like.

In any case: your bank should be able to tell you more about this.

Cheers,
Olaf

PS: other than the US government, your own government may also trigger on some of the above actions; especially sending money to 'tax-paradises' will be suspect for each countries' INSes.