*Bank changes for US Citizens in Thailand

[Pib]

768 Thai banks being on the U.S. Treasury list also means very little. It just means that these financial institutions have reported back that they will comply with the requirements, and one way of complying would be not to have any U.S. customers.

Sophon

A Chicken Little response. 1 Jul 14 is here already for FATCA implementation...if Thai banks had decided to not open new accounts or close current accounts for Americans it would have started months ago on a wide scale. All we've seen on ThaiVisa is few posts were an American feels they couldn't open a bank account because they were an American (farangs of all nationalities have been turned down for accounts left and right for years now until they walked down the soi and open the account at the next bank/branch) or someone got some letter saying an audit of their fixed account had occurred and the individual thought that was tied to FATCA.

[Naam]

Well, well, I see on the U.S. Treasury FATCA website that Thailand is listed as one of the "Jurisdictions that have reached agreements in substance and have consented to being included on this list (beginning on the date indicated in parenthesis):" Thailand's inclusion date is 24 Jun 14. See this Link.

the inclusion on the "list" doesn't mean anything yet Pib. whether it is Thailand or any other country the actual specific (not "in substance") agreement has to be ratified by the relevant parliament.

i am not sure whether Thailand has presently a functioning parliament

Could be....I know "trade" agreements usually have to be ratified by a country's parliament, but this agreement is really just an information exchange agreement for Thailand financial companies/banks to provide financial info on Americans to the U.S. Treasury...and of course this agreement should prevent Thai banks/financial companies from been tagged with 30% withholding tax when doing business in/with the U.S.. Hopefully it has satisfied the U.S. Treasury Dept and it makes things easier on Thai banks which should make things easier on American opening/keeping accounts. Plus the U.S. Treasury Dept already showed 768 Thai banks/financial companies/financial products complying with Treasury reporting requirements. I think everything will be good to go...but I'm sure there will still be a good amount of ThaiVisa Chicken Little posts on this subject.

it's a matter of jurisdiction. Thai banks cannot enter into a cross-border agreement with a foreign government or governmental institution without approval of Thailand's government.

[Pib]

it's a matter of jurisdiction. Thai banks cannot enter into a cross-border agreement with a foreign government or governmental institution without approval of Thailand's government.

But they already reflect agreements at the U.S. Treasury FATCA site. Maybe the previous govt/Finance Ministry or Bank of Thailand gave an interim go ahead. Time will tell.

[Naam]

it's a matter of jurisdiction. Thai banks cannot enter into a cross-border agreement with a foreign government or governmental institution without approval of Thailand's government.

But they already reflect agreements at the U.S. Treasury FATCA site. Maybe the previous govt/Finance Ministry or Bank of Thailand gave an interim go ahead. Time will tell.

Pib,

take a deep breath, a sip of that cold beer next to you and then read again a typical non-committal statement like this:

have reached agreements in substance and have consented to being included on this list

summary:

if JingThing wants me to "agree in substance" and "my consent being included" on the list "Free Pattaya of Baht-Buses" i will happily concur. that even though i have not used a baht-bus since 10 years and have no intention to use one during the next 10 years.

Edited July 1, 2014 by Naam

[Pib]

I don't breathe when drinking beer as it slows down the beer flow rate.

[Sophon]

768 Thai banks being on the U.S. Treasury list also means very little. It just means that these financial institutions have reported back that they will comply with the requirements, and one way of complying would be not to have any U.S. customers.

Sophon

A Chicken Little response. 1 Jul 14 is here already for FATCA implementation...if Thai banks had decided to not open new accounts or close current accounts for Americans it would have started months ago on a wide scale. All we've seen on ThaiVisa is few posts were an American feels they couldn't open a bank account because they were an American (farangs of all nationalities have been turned down for accounts left and right for years now until they walked down the soi and open the account at the next bank/branch) or someone got some letter saying an audit of their fixed account had occurred and the individual thought that was tied to FATCA.

Not a "Chicken Little response" at all, just a realistic one. In fact personally, I think all the major banks will be able to comply with the reporting requirement be it by implementing a manual process for reporting or making the required computer program changes to do so automatically. Since most people open their account with the larger banks, the change will probably not affect that many people. For smaller banks with few foreign customers only a manual process would make financial sense, and more U.S. customers would equal more work. So these banks would probably decide on a customer by customer basis whether opening an account for a U.S citizen/resident would be profitable.

I have worked for a European bank for the last couple of decades doing (among other things) stuff like this (EU and national reporting requirements), and I can guarantee you that there is no way that 768 Thai financial institutions already have the programmes or processes in place for living up to the reporting requirements.

Sophon

[isawasnake]

I just got a notice from UOB, I only glanced at it because I am leaving this beautiful country, but it seemed to say that they will not be handling US customers anymore, at all. Forgive me if mistaken slightly, I would read it again but it is already in the trash.

It seems like there are some really big, and unwelcomed, changes coming. I love how "change" always seems to correspond to be in favor of government institutions.

Edited July 1, 2014 by isawasnake

[Pib]

I just got a notice from UOB, I only glanced at it because I am leaving this beautiful country, but it seemed to say that they will not be handling US customers anymore, at all. Forgive me if mistaken slightly, I would read it again but it is already in the trash.

It seems like there are some really big, and unwelcomed, changes coming. I love how "change" always seems to correspond to be in favor of government institutions.

Seemed to be saying....maybe I'm mistaken...can't read it again as I threw it away.

Ok, this is enough proof for me...UOB is not handling US customers anymore.

[hercdogules]

thank everyone for the feedback.

[OMGImInPattaya]

I just got a notice from UOB, I only glanced at it because I am leaving this beautiful country, but it seemed to say that they will not be handling US customers anymore, at all. Forgive me if mistaken slightly, I would read it again but it is already in the trash.

It seems like there are some really big, and unwelcomed, changes coming. I love how "change" always seems to correspond to be in favor of government institutions.

Seemed to be saying....maybe I'm mistaken...can't read it again as I threw it away.

Ok, this is enough proof for me...UOB is not handling US customers anymore.

Seems highly unlikely (but of course not impossible) as UOB in Thailand is associated with UOB Singapore, one of the largest banks in that faire state. Being a hub of international trade and finance, it hardly seems likely the one of the major banks in Singapore would refuse to deal with Americans or the American banking system, which would obviously present a host of problems for their other personal and business banking customers. If they can string together a few lines of computer code to comply in Singapore, I'm sure there would be little reason for their Thai subsidiary (I know technically it's a separate legal entity chartered under Thai banking regulations) to do so as well. Especially as Thai and US are apparently going to enter into agreements to allow the sharing of the data in questions between their respective financial institutions and regulators.

[gadyking]

I question her statements that it is because of new US restriction or if it is because almost every branch screws up the opening of accounts for any foreigner

Most still think that you need a work permit to open an account so you have to tell them to call Bangkok to sort it out. So maybe headquarters got tired of all the phone calls so they decided that they would do it in the future

Langsuan Man i like to talk with u about polygraph i send u email