I arrived yesterday afternoon, May 18, in Vienna for a series of meetings with Austrian banks, lawyers, and financial advisors.
Here, the story is much the same as it is in other offshore financial centers: Americans, stay away! Since I published my book Austria Money Secrets in 2007, every bank I mentioned in it (with one exception) has imposed significant trading restrictions on U.S. clients.
A bank I’ll call Bank X is typical. It’s a subsidiary of one of the largest and most successful banks in Switzerland. Two years ago, Bank X welcomed U.S. depositors with open arms, although it didn’t have many of them. The assistant head of the Austrian branch of Bank X told me in a meeting in late 2006 that Americans were welcome to open accounts there on the same terms as anyone else. There were virtually no restrictions. The minimum investment was only US$100,000—ow by private banking standards.
But recently, I received an urgent call from a reader who had contacted Bank X to open an account there. Now, the picture was completely different. Bank X told the reader that the minimum investment for Americans was now US$400,000—not US$100,000. Further, Bank X wouldn’t allow any U.S. depositor to purchase any security not listed on a U.S. exchange. Otherwise, U.S. depositors could only purchase foreign currencies. In other words, the entire universe of investments that a foreign account normally opens was now shut down!
I’ll be in Vienna until May 29, and I hope during that time to find some alternatives to Bank X and the other banks that have severely restricted, or prohibited entirely, investments by U.S. persons.
The opportunities for Austrian banks willing to service U.S. clients is definitely there. While larger Austrian banks have imposed restrictions on U.S. clients, smaller institutions with no significant U.S. presence have much less to lose from any future U.S. crackdown against them. Those are the banks I’m seeking out on this visit.
Well, that’s all for now—I’m headed out the door for one of my bank appointments. But first, I’ll pick up some freshly baked Kürbiskernbrötchen (pumpkin seed rolls)—my favorite Austrian breakfast treat!
Copyright © 2009 by Mark Nestmann
(An earlier version of this post was published by The Sovereign Society.)
Update: Austria Money Secrets is now out of print, although I still believe that Austria remains suitable for private banking.
