Zachystal said that in a world where financial systems are becoming increasingly connected, US brokerage firms are becoming more aware that they might be subject to financial regulations in other countries if they deal with clients resident in those countries.
He also said there was another issue as well, that US mutual funds should not be sold to residents in other countries unless they are registered in those other countries, which is usually not the case.
Europe
In Europe, Brian Dunhill of Belgian-based Cross Border Planning, said most major brokers such as UBS, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Vanguard have not been serving US expats in Europe for a while as they aren’t licensed in both Europe and the US.
“We find that many Americans use an address in the US but we find four main reasons why we wouldn’t recommend this,” he said.
Dunhill, whose firm advises US expats across Europe, expects the trend of providers closing their services to such clients to continue, adding “we will see a few more shortly”.
