paddingtongreen

Time to get tough with them. Buy one share of their stock. Contact their investor relations department and ask when the next AGM will be because you want to attend and propose the motion that this unreasonable treatment of customers is not in the shareholders interest and must be stopped. They really do hate these shareholder motions from the floor.

Bink

Me too. They have my US address and have had for 3 years with no issues.
It could also be to do with the direct transfer of over $10k.

AdobePinon

I've hit a similar wall to the OP. My sin was trying to change my US address to a different US address. They want me to show up in person too. Needless to say, it hasn't happened yet.

RICH

Even if it was easy to do, I can't see what purpose it would serve? Do they want fingerprints or something?

I think I heard about a takeover at Lloyds/TSB - maybe something to do with a change in policy/ownership?

Edit fwiw I was in my former local branch recently, because I had gone to UK with the wrong PIN for my chip and pin credit card (PIN not needed in US)- needless to say they, could not help me, even though I identified myself with passport/address proof etc.

Englishmum

When we left the UK we transferred our LloydsTSB current account to one of their offshore branches (in the Isle of Man). The account operates in exactly the same way as a mainland account - with the exception that any interest etc. is outside the jurisdiction of HM Customs and Revenue (or whatever the former Inland Revenue is currently called). We do internet banking with them and when we are in the UK use the ATMs etc. and we keep the account open as we rent our house out and do online shopping with UK companies etc.

I suspect that the fact that you have informed the bank that you are no longer a UK resident *and* the fact that you are in the US and any transfers to US accounts of US$10,000 or more means that the IRS is informed has raised a red flag at LloydsTSB. We never send more than $10,000 in one transaction to our US checking account - if necessary we spread it out over a few days - and we always use xe.com.

Perhaps you may wish to consider opening a Lloyds offshore account? You most certainly do not need to go to Jersey, Guernsey, IoM in person to open an account with them, you just mail in notarized copies of your birth certificate/passport etc. I'm pretty sure that if you contact one of their offshore centres and speak with a manager explaining your predicament, they will probably be happy to facilitate transferring your mainland account to an offshore branch.

http://www.lloydstsb-offshore.com/in...rent-accounts/

Btw; we also have some funds in the Britannia (Building Society) International on the IoM and this is their criteria for expats/overseas investors to open an account.....as you can see, there is no need to apply in person:

http://www.britanniainternational.co...ntification-21

(Btw we are currently on a posting in Switzerland - most American expats here are having major problems opening bank accounts here as virtually all the Swiss banks do not want to get involved with the FATCA reporting).

Jerseygirl

We have kept our UK Bank Account (Nat West) and for the last 17 years all correspondence has been sent to our US address. 9 months ago we tried to transfer in excess of $10K to our US account...we were told that we would have to go to the bank in person. Fortunately my husband was in the UK a week or so later. He had to produce his UK passport for ID.

A couple of years ago I transferred a large amount from our US bank into our account at the Nat West. I had to go into a Nat West branch in person with my passport before I could access the money.

HarryTheSpider

I had to show up in person to change addresses for my Barclays account because the ID I had used to open the account (passport) had since expired, and they wanted/needed an up-to-date official piece of ID - I took care of that during a business trip to the UK. Maybe that's the reason for you too?

Titchski

I also have a NatWest account and have never had issues the few times I've had to call them.

However, I only have £46.23 in there, so I doubt they're in a hurry to get their grubby mitts on such a paltry sum.

AdobePinon

Interesting. Whatever ID I used would have been from 25 years ago. Well, they'll be waiting a while longer. And then they'll probably be ornery because I have no UK ID.

Michael

It's not that FACTA reporting is very complicated but the Swiss banks are trying to keep their bank secrecy laws. However Switzerland signed the FATCA agreement and if a bank accept deposits above a certain amount from US citizens or permanent residents and don't report it, those businesses could be banned from doing business in the US. In the case of UBS or Credit Suisse, that is about 35% of their total revenues. For their US operations, they have long been required to report year end 1099 information to the IRS.

There shouldn't be a problem opening an account with an American bank is Switzerland since for a long time they have been required to report year end 1099 information to the IRS no matter what country they are located in. Most probably want to open accounts with UBS or Credit Suisse since they are throughout the country and those banks likely don't want to do FATCA reporting.

theOAP

Agree. According to posts on EnglishForum.CH, most Americans attempting to open a new account with either a large Swiss bank or Kantonal bank are having problems. There are maybe 2 or 3 available, and they have assorted hoops to jump through including giving up all rights under privacy protection.

@MICHAEL - I'm not aware of any American banks in Switzerland that offer a regular deposit (checking) account for day to day usage in Swiss Francs. If you know of any, please share your knowledge with those in Switzerland.

As for UK bank accounts held by US persons (ANYWHERE):

Both Barclays and HSBC have issued changes to their terms and conditions. If you have an account, even with no problems to date, it may be wise to check the latest booklets.

From the Barclays T&C (from 09 October 2013):

Our obligations to disclose tax information abroad

We are required to give certain information about your accounts in some cases to the UK tax authorities (HMRC). HMRC may share it with relevant foreign tax authorities. Nothing new, but under the US/UK FATCA IGA, all US person accounts of over $50,000 must be reported. The UK banks have requested that ALL accounts (whatever value) be included to ease the costs of reporting.

The Retail Customer Agreement will now say that, if we think that you are required to pay tax in another country (whether you owe tax, or not) and we need to get extra documents or information from you about this, you agree to supply us with them. (This will likely be a W-9 Form containing your US Social Security number.) If you don't, we may close your account, or, if the law requires us to do so, we may withhold parts of certain payments received into your account, and pass withheld funds to the relevant tax authorities as required (this is more likely if you leave the UK and become resident for tax purposes in another country).

(Items in blue my comments)

HSBC issued a similar change last Nov.(?), and gave customers the ability to close their accounts prior to 01 Jan 2013 if they didn't agree to the change.

Also, be aware that the IGA contains a clause that allows the UK banks (or any organization to which it applies) to utilize the services of a 3rd party to handle the computation and reporting of US person accounts to HMRC.

It seems unlikely that these terms and conditions would be limited to only these banks. Past interactions with UK banks are not an indication that all relationships will remain the same in the future. FATCA has been delayed another 6 months. Who knows where it will end up, or even if FATCA will exist in the future.