June 16, 2009

Lloyds Bank hit by Obama tax purge


Banking group drops American customers in UK ahead of costly proposals to stamp out tax evasion



Barack Obama  - US president

Lloyds Banking Group is ditching American customers based in Britain pending a crackdown on international tax evasion planned by President Barack Obama.

This week American private client account-holders at Lloyds's received letters informing them of an "important change in policy regarding clients who are resident, domiciled or linked to the United States by property or asset holdings". They were told the bank had "no choice" but to "cease acting as your investment manager."

One letter sent to Bank of Scotland's portfolio management division, which is now part of Lloyds, said: "The USA has a mature regulatory environment governed by its Securities and Exchange Commission. These regulations mean that we are not licensed to manage portfolios for US clients."

The letter added: "Unfortunately we cannot offer an equivalent service from within Lloyds Banking Group." Clients have been advised to transfer their assets.

One recipient, who has lived in the UK for over 25 years, said: "After all this time, I've suddenly been told I must take my money elsewhere and I don't understand why. Now I'm scared that other banks won't take me on either."

In its letters to clients, Lloyds has not referred to specific legislation. But last month, The Sunday Telegraph reported that British banks and stockbrokers were threatening to close down accounts held by American citizens due to concerns over new international tax proposals could make it too expensive for them to service the clients.

The proposals, which were unveiled in the President's first budget, have been designed to clamp down on American tax evaders abroad. But bank bosses say that in practice they could be asked to take on the task of collecting American taxes at a cost and legal liability that make servicing the clients inexpedient. The rules have not yet been finalised and are still subject to debate in Congress.

So far Lloyds has started dropping its "mass affluent" clients who have investment portfolios of up to a few hundred thousand pounds but that its "high-net-worth individuals" are not yet effected.

A source said: "Until the new rules are properly explained, we don't know how expensive they will be to implement. But it's clear that Lloyds believes that any extra cost to the system will be too much when it comes to the mass affluent."

The letters also contained four comprehensive descriptions of the bank's definition of clients that are effected. These included clients that hold green cards, pay American taxes, are American domiciled or even those where there is "any indication" that a client spent more time in the US than "normal holidays currently or in the past or future."

President Obama's proposals are built on the so-called Qualified Intermediary system introduced in 2001 that were intended to ensure Americans paid the correct tax wherever they were domiciled. Under the rules, foreign financial institutions that handle American money have to fill in a US tax form on behalf of the client that has to be audited too.

In return, the banks receive a QI seal of approval as a qualified intermediary. Bank bosses say that under plans to extend the system, which includes paying for the figures to be audited twice, the costs and legal liabilities of the system will soar.

APCIMS, the trade body whose members manage £400bn of Britain's wealth and employ 25,000 people, sent a letter to the US Treasury's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) complaining that the "unfair'' proposals represent "no benefit but . . . significant cost'' to its members.

Last night Lloyds declined to comment.







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