Friday, February 19, 2016

I've kept my reputation

It is no secret that I am doing everything possible to fight FATCA, the treaties that threaten banks all over the world with huge fines if they don't report American accounts.

The result of FATCA is that expats all over the world have been denied normal banking services among other hardships. They are also losing jobs or being denied jobs, investment opportunities, losing mortgages and more but that is another blog.

I am part of a lawsuit against the US to declare FATCA illegal.

FATCA is the major reason I am not a US citizen. It was a blue passport or a bank where I was going to live the rest of my life.

I've also blogged about it as part of my normal blog here.

I've been interviewed over the years by media from the US, UK and Switzerland including by Sophie Yan of CNN.

This morning I found that she had picked up some of my comments from an earlier interview in this article

The part she picked up went back to my statement that the need to renounce my birthplace so I could lead a normal life in Switzerland upset me to the point that I vomited immediately after leaving the Bern embassy.

Because of that statement when I meet with other expats including renouncers and non-renouncers they often say, "Oh, you are the lady who vomited." Even my new landlady made the connection.

It is a strange reputation to have, but one I carry happily if anything can be done to help people who have been hurt. Some people will ask why I care now that I am safe with my bank.

Well, I'm not. My bank called me in and threatened to close my account unless I could explain why I was sending $300 to the US. Since I renounced I married an American. He has been turned down for bank accounts because he is an American in Switzerland. 

My reputation along with the problem continues.
 




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