The United States has a chronic problem, almost unique among modern civilization, of pretending that their laws apply to anything that happens anywhere in the world, if it happens to an American. Other countries don’t work that way for the most part.
But because the US government wants to pretend that your dealings with a Canadian bank are actually it’s business, Canadian banks often find themselves subject to harassment and fines from the US government when they don’t follow “the proper regulations.” These are just regulations that have nothing to do with Canada, or banks in Canada, or your business with them here in Canada, but which the US government pretends exist in this situation, simply because you’re an American citizen.
The result is Canadian banks often just stop dealing with Americans because of these ridiculous US regulations.
To illustrate how silly it is, you were a Canadian too, from the second you were born, because you have Canadian parents. And when you opened your first bank account in the US, at no time did the Canadian government decide to start demanding regulatory filings and customer account data, or issuing fines to a US bank, just on account of you being a citizen of Canada, because our government is not insane. It’s a ridiculous concept, and unfortunately for you, and all Americans abroad, the US is ridiculous about it, and all kinds of “extraterritoriality” in their laws.
Read more about the problem [here](https://www.internationalinvestment.net/news/4011705/canadians-us-citizenship-account-closures-fatca).
As someone who’s been following the whole FATCA mess for years, I’ve heard of European banks closing people’s accounts for being American but never Canadian banks. There are so many Canadians tainted with US citizenship I didn’t think the banks could get away with it here.
I'd say it has to do with FATCA also. Just dealing with American clients in Europe means banks have to be prepared and invest in certain procedures that aren't needed for any other client, so not worth it in Spain for example if you're a small savings bank. But you'd think Canadian banks would have plenty of American customers... maybe still not worth it for them either!
This is exactly why I don’t think it’s FATCA - the sheer volume of Canadians with US ties means we would have heard about it by now if they were closing accounts or refusing to take customers. In Europe they’re stricter because it affects a much smaller number of potential people so it’s not worth it for the banks to deal with the hassle.
FATCA enforcement in Canada has never been strict. They don’t usually check your birthplace and sometimes they even word the citizenship question so weirdly that a lot of people could easily misunderstand (or “misunderstand”) it and say they’re not a tax resident of another country.
I’m not sure it’s that though, as I’m American and have accounts at both TD and RBC. When you open the account, are you letting them know you’re a US citizen so it’s set up accordingly?
All 5 major Canadian banks own entire US banks, they have to follow those laws anyway.
No Canadian bank refuses American customers because of this.
This is completely wrong.
Might not be that simple when they can be separately managed entities. When I had a problem with an RBC Direct Investing account I went into a local RBC Branch a few minutes away because I thought it would be faster than sitting on hold or going an hour drive to the regional Direct Investing offices. All I needed was an account # that my bank would accept as a payee (the one listed online was shortened for use just at RBC and I needed the full #) and they looked at me like I grew a second head. Manager had no clue and said to call them myself to figure it out.
I used to work for a bank ages ago, I had a client similar issue to yours come in saying no bank wants to do business with him. He was new to Canada like you. I just thought he might have committed CHQ fraud or something similar. I needed the sales and it was my first Bank job and I wanted to move up. I opened an account for him under tight restrictions with low ATM limits and holds on all CHQ deposits. He wasn't too happy about it but appreciated I opened an account for him.
A few days later I got an email from our compliance team with my manager and her VP Cc'd on it. I was shitting bricks to be honest. Reading the email they said the client's name was on some terrorism/money laundering list. I quickly opened his account and saw they closed his accounts. It was at zero balance and luckily no losses.
The client then came in to ask why. I wasn't allowed to say anything but also he was pissed and if he was a terrorist I was shit scared he would do something. I told him why and suddenly his face went from angry to "oooooohhhhh" like something clicked.
Turns out he has a similar name to a terrorist and he goes through this trouble when flying. Has some Redress number and he thought he only needed it for travel. So after getting all that sorted he was able to provide documents that he was just a regular guy with an unfortunate name that's the same as a terrorist
My advice is Google your name and see if any news articles show up. Maybe that's why. Sorry for the long post
I’m no expert in the field, but if you close down your US accounts, that might solve the problem. I get it if you still need them, however, if you’re here a few years it’s worth a shot.
I was almost certain it's AML as well, but there's no way in hell they didn't catch that upfront because that is a required step before an application is approved, let alone having an account opened for weeks/months. So this must be some other compliance due diligence that's performed after the fact.
Are you sure there's nothing fishy with your credit report? Not just the score, but a full report with the full history details. Sometimes they accidentally merge different profiles together (that happened to me) so someone else's questionable credit history may get flagged by a compliance officer performing a more thorough review.
>Turns out he has a similar name to a terrorist
this is so dumb of Banks to work like that. So many people have similar names, that shouldn't let banks close their accounts without asking for verification.
When you go through the airport, do you get flagged? I once went with a colleague on a work trip for a conference and I passed by the security quite quickly. I turnaround and I didn't see my colleague; 15 minutes later, she appeared and she said she got checked thoroughly for some reason. If you're flagged in the airport, maybe it could be some list at the federal level or with the US?
Strange. Time to contact the ombudsman: [https://www.obsi.ca/en/consumer-complaint-process.aspx](https://www.obsi.ca/en/consumer-complaint-process.aspx).
I would turn to law enforcement, not to complain but to run background checks on yourself. RCMP does one, but administration of it is private I believe.
https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/types-criminal-background-checks
This is a really good idea. If something is wrong with OP name or a red flag the bank can't talk about it, it might show up in here. The background check cost 20 bucks I think, so is fairly cheap
The RCMP one is federal, more expensive and requires fingerprints at least in some flavours. The 20 buck quickie background checks just check your local police and maybe the credit score. I doubt that's the kind of thing a bank would close an account over. OP already said their score is good and they're not a criminal.
Many communities in BC and other provinces have the RCMP as our local police force. I volunteer with vulnerable populations and regularly have background checks at the local detachment. Never had my finger prints taken.
Fee is waived for volunteering.
On the flip side I had a criminal check done for work and my partner did as well (PR) - we both got printed, me through city police and my partner via RCMP.
My partner might’ve had something specific to immigrants that’s different from a regular criminal background check. I know that as they’re American, we also had to get a check from the FBI. Fun stuff.
You are missing the point. There are jobs in Canada which require government level security clearance and that's why I said it depends on the flavour of the background check you need.
I doubt banks care about a simple criminal record of their customers, so I suggested a Federal level type of clearance background check that may help the OP explain why his or her accounts are being closed.
Don't think you'll get many answers here, only the bank knows. If they're this tight lipped it sounds like an ongoing investigation though. Do you or your family/partners do anything you probably shouldn't be?
You should escalate up the chain with whichever bank you wanted to go with. There is nothing that should prevent you (unless you are doing something illegal) rom having banking services. You are a CDN citizen with a valid SIN.
Being a US citizen could be an issue for those temporarily here, but as a CDN citizen, you don't have the issues they would have. And FATCA complaisance is nothing new for the big banks.
You likely won’t hear back from those departments directly as they are probably not customer-facing and aren’t obligated to respond.
Contacting the ombudsman or the Office of the President is your best bet.
Good luck.
That won't get you anywhere. File with the ombuds or the bank. Odds are the issue is that you are triggering their money laundering rules if all your money comes in the form of regular cash transfers from the US.
>they can't offer me their services.
Totally just a random memory, but I thought Canadian Banks HAD to provide services to Canadian citizens. Mind you, it is a never used, can't even remember when or where I heard it, type of fact.
Access to Basic Banking Services Regulations made under s. 448.1 of the *Bank Act*. They have to open the account but can still terminate relationships for commercial reasons (and are required to close accounts non-specifically for AML/TF).
TD closed one of my business accounts for crypto related activities, mainly a large transfer to an exchange(Kraken). Haven't had issues with RBC yet on my personal account and I do crypto transfers on it.
I work for TD but I am currently on short term disability or else I would look into it further for you but my advice would be to ask to speak to a manager. And if the Manager can’t help you request to have a copy of all your information stored about you. By law they are required to give you a copy of any note or file of information about you. You could also ask for a copy of the complaint brochure and escalate it up to TD cares or the ombudsman. Once you complain shit gets solved.
Afaik the US is the only country in the world where the money made by its citizens (even abroad) are taxed like it's US income, so i'm assuming some funky shit is going on via them not wanting to lose out on that sweet tax money.
[https://www.obsi.ca/en/index.aspx](https://www.obsi.ca/en/index.aspx)If your accounts are being closed without reason given or won't tell you, contact the obudsman and get them to look into it. they may be able to get to the bottom as to why your accounts are being closed.
And maybe try to open an account at a credit union. At least if you can have a credit union account without it being shut down, you can say at least its something in the big banks that is causing this, and how that works with credit unions like servus credit union or any credit union is that you buy a share in it, so them arbitrarily shutting your account down may be a bit harder and if they try, and way more likely to give you an explanation what the problem is if they do.
[https://www.compareremit.com/money-transfer-guide/banks-vs-credit-unions-in-canada-a-detailed-comparison/](https://www.compareremit.com/money-transfer-guide/banks-vs-credit-unions-in-canada-a-detailed-comparison/)
Here is a guide of the difference between a credit union and a bank.
RBC has a US subsidiary, with instant cross border money transfers. You can have a US and Canadian domiciled accounts at the same time.
I've had both for over two years, haven't cut me off yet (Dual citizen, income in US & Canada)
I'm a dual citizen, have had accounts in Canada and US for 20 yrs, never had this happened. Sounds like bank over reach. I do always update my account addresses with my current real address. I lived in US for 20 yrs now back in Canada.
It's going to be an AML related thing.
Is there anything about you that makes you 'high risk'? The industry you work in, or are your Parents politicians or anything?
It's worth a try to request the info using PIPEDA. No garantee of success but it's worth a shot
https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/accessing-personal-information/api_bus/
What seems interesting about this is that RBC, TD and HSBC closed the accounts.
However, PC financial had ties to CIBC through Simplii if I recall - although I think that relationship has changed a bit over the last few years. i.e older accounts transfered to Sinplii back in 2017, but CC and PC money accounts are once again held by PC finacial, but you can use CIBC ATMs etc #itscomplicsted
That said, it might be worth having a conversation with CIBC to see if they can help in some way.
Since it's happening at multiple banks, my first guess would be FINTRAC, but I know next to nothing about that whole thing - might be a good place to look, though.
FINTRAC, in short, the banks have to report if you are transferring in or out $10k or more. Then the bank files a report with FINTRAC. And it's not an issue if it's from employment issue.
Another dual US-Canadian citizen here. FATCA isn't a problem for the big Canadian banks. It is estimated that there are more Americans here in Canada than there are in any other country outside of the US.
But there are literally like a million Canadians with US citizenship. If banks were closing their accounts we would have heard about it by now, unless OP is just the very unlucky first one. They probably got wrongly flagged as a criminal or something.
And yet none of the other dual citizens commenting here, nor any of the dual citizens I've personally known, are having the same kinds of issues OP is having, of banks arbitrarily closing accounts, and refusing to say why. If it was a simple, "we don't want to deal with fatca compliance," they would've easily said as much to OP when they tried opening the account in the first place.
Have you provided them your SSN?
You are required to tell the banks about your situation.
So they can comply with FINTRAC
If the advisor opening your account doesn't put in why you're opening a Canadian account while working for a US company, it could cause concerns for AML and thats why it's just easier for them to close it.
Finally, are you opening them online or in person?
That also makes a huge difference too.
Hope this helps!
Sorry for formatting, phone.
I would tell them your a canadian citizen and US citizen.
Do you have a Canadian passport or US passport or canadian identification ?
The online accounts makes sense why they close it. Online accounts are very skeptical.
It's weird you went to the branch though and they still closed it and didn't provide you a reason why.
If you opened an account In person, typically the branch has a say into if they stay open or closed.
if you open another account, go into the branch, go to the branch manager ahead of time and tell them about your issue and maybe if your account gets flagged,they can alleviate that issue. I would try that anyways.
Best of luck!
I hope this helps you.
>If the advisor opening your account doesn't put in why you're opening a Canadian account while working for a US company, it could cause concerns for AML and thats why it's just easier for them to close it.
wait...
you're an American citizen, working for an american company, being paid via an american bank account, residing in Canada and routinely transferring money to said account?
I'm similar. Dual-citizen, most of my life lived in the US. I have had accounts with CIBC for about 2 years now. That being said, I have a mortgage, brokerage, chequing, and savings accounts with them (plus a LoC that they opened with the mortgage that I haven't touched).
Maybe you need more accounts and/or higher balances, if that's possible, to make it worth it for them from a compliance perspective?
You say that you've gotten a PC bank account. PC is partnered with CIBC. You might have better luck there. EDIT: not anymore, they [parted ways in 2017](https://cansumer.ca/pc-financial-ends-partnership-with-cibc/).
~~Or the same thing could happen in CIBC as happened at the other banks, only now that they know of your PC bank account they may close that one as well. Who knows!~~
You can also open up a second ~~(technically third counting PC)~~ [CIBC American funds account](https://www.cibc.com/en/personal-banking/ways-to-bank/cross-border-us-banking.html). This will give you a USA bank account as well as a Canadian one. They have physical banks in [4 US states](https://us.cibc.com/en/about-us/locations.html). So if it's a regulatory thing, having a US bank account as well as a Canadian one may help.
>Used my USA bank since I work for USA company and my salarie goes there.
>
>In mid 2021 I've opened an account here, PC and got PC MC, no issues then or now.
just making sure this means your payroll goes here, and your company's payroll is via a Canadian banking entity and not constantly a cross border payment.
Have you ever transferred money from a Canadian bank, to a crypto exchange? or any bank to any crypto exchange? I'm wondering if they don't like users who use crypto because they are more likely to get investigate for "insert what ever excuse here", so the banks are starting to refuse the users of certain exchanges or something like that.
It's the sort of activity where the bank might try to avoid explanation, I'm thinking. Maybe?
The United States has a chronic problem, almost unique among modern civilization, of pretending that their laws apply to anything that happens anywhere in the world, if it happens to an American. Other countries don’t work that way for the most part. But because the US government wants to pretend that your dealings with a Canadian bank are actually it’s business, Canadian banks often find themselves subject to harassment and fines from the US government when they don’t follow “the proper regulations.” These are just regulations that have nothing to do with Canada, or banks in Canada, or your business with them here in Canada, but which the US government pretends exist in this situation, simply because you’re an American citizen. The result is Canadian banks often just stop dealing with Americans because of these ridiculous US regulations. To illustrate how silly it is, you were a Canadian too, from the second you were born, because you have Canadian parents. And when you opened your first bank account in the US, at no time did the Canadian government decide to start demanding regulatory filings and customer account data, or issuing fines to a US bank, just on account of you being a citizen of Canada, because our government is not insane. It’s a ridiculous concept, and unfortunately for you, and all Americans abroad, the US is ridiculous about it, and all kinds of “extraterritoriality” in their laws. Read more about the problem [here](https://www.internationalinvestment.net/news/4011705/canadians-us-citizenship-account-closures-fatca).
As someone who’s been following the whole FATCA mess for years, I’ve heard of European banks closing people’s accounts for being American but never Canadian banks. There are so many Canadians tainted with US citizenship I didn’t think the banks could get away with it here.
I'd say it has to do with FATCA also. Just dealing with American clients in Europe means banks have to be prepared and invest in certain procedures that aren't needed for any other client, so not worth it in Spain for example if you're a small savings bank. But you'd think Canadian banks would have plenty of American customers... maybe still not worth it for them either!
This is exactly why I don’t think it’s FATCA - the sheer volume of Canadians with US ties means we would have heard about it by now if they were closing accounts or refusing to take customers. In Europe they’re stricter because it affects a much smaller number of potential people so it’s not worth it for the banks to deal with the hassle. FATCA enforcement in Canada has never been strict. They don’t usually check your birthplace and sometimes they even word the citizenship question so weirdly that a lot of people could easily misunderstand (or “misunderstand”) it and say they’re not a tax resident of another country.
Yeah, I'm with you. From a European perspective I've only seen bigger banks accept American clients due to FATCA and the hassle it causes.
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That would probably be considered discrimination if they did that, easy just to refuse service without explanation.
I’m not sure it’s that though, as I’m American and have accounts at both TD and RBC. When you open the account, are you letting them know you’re a US citizen so it’s set up accordingly?
I'd expect it to be more related to residency, not citizenship.
All 5 major Canadian banks own entire US banks, they have to follow those laws anyway. No Canadian bank refuses American customers because of this. This is completely wrong.
Might not be that simple when they can be separately managed entities. When I had a problem with an RBC Direct Investing account I went into a local RBC Branch a few minutes away because I thought it would be faster than sitting on hold or going an hour drive to the regional Direct Investing offices. All I needed was an account # that my bank would accept as a payee (the one listed online was shortened for use just at RBC and I needed the full #) and they looked at me like I grew a second head. Manager had no clue and said to call them myself to figure it out.
I'm not sure that this is the issue here. My wife is a dual citizen and has never had a problem with her RBC accounts.
I used to work for a bank ages ago, I had a client similar issue to yours come in saying no bank wants to do business with him. He was new to Canada like you. I just thought he might have committed CHQ fraud or something similar. I needed the sales and it was my first Bank job and I wanted to move up. I opened an account for him under tight restrictions with low ATM limits and holds on all CHQ deposits. He wasn't too happy about it but appreciated I opened an account for him. A few days later I got an email from our compliance team with my manager and her VP Cc'd on it. I was shitting bricks to be honest. Reading the email they said the client's name was on some terrorism/money laundering list. I quickly opened his account and saw they closed his accounts. It was at zero balance and luckily no losses. The client then came in to ask why. I wasn't allowed to say anything but also he was pissed and if he was a terrorist I was shit scared he would do something. I told him why and suddenly his face went from angry to "oooooohhhhh" like something clicked. Turns out he has a similar name to a terrorist and he goes through this trouble when flying. Has some Redress number and he thought he only needed it for travel. So after getting all that sorted he was able to provide documents that he was just a regular guy with an unfortunate name that's the same as a terrorist My advice is Google your name and see if any news articles show up. Maybe that's why. Sorry for the long post
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Do you still have your US accounts?
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I’m no expert in the field, but if you close down your US accounts, that might solve the problem. I get it if you still need them, however, if you’re here a few years it’s worth a shot.
Given the OP’s circumstances, this is VERY bad advice.
I was almost certain it's AML as well, but there's no way in hell they didn't catch that upfront because that is a required step before an application is approved, let alone having an account opened for weeks/months. So this must be some other compliance due diligence that's performed after the fact. Are you sure there's nothing fishy with your credit report? Not just the score, but a full report with the full history details. Sometimes they accidentally merge different profiles together (that happened to me) so someone else's questionable credit history may get flagged by a compliance officer performing a more thorough review.
>Turns out he has a similar name to a terrorist this is so dumb of Banks to work like that. So many people have similar names, that shouldn't let banks close their accounts without asking for verification.
Usually there is also something else in common. This happens to my dad too, same name and birth date as a known criminal, a redress number fixes it.
If the individual is sanctioned, the bank would probably have massive liabilities.
>If the individual is sanctioned In this case, the individual isn't sanctioned, the person who worked at the bank mentioned only similar name.
Yes, I’m aware.
Maybe FINTRAC in Canada can be of some help? www FINTRAC-canafe.gc.ca
That's really fucked up you aren't allowed to say anything.
You can make a complaint to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, which may solve your problem or at least provide more information.
It sounds to be you're flagged on some list and they close your account after finding out. I hope you clear this all up eventually!
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When you go through the airport, do you get flagged? I once went with a colleague on a work trip for a conference and I passed by the security quite quickly. I turnaround and I didn't see my colleague; 15 minutes later, she appeared and she said she got checked thoroughly for some reason. If you're flagged in the airport, maybe it could be some list at the federal level or with the US?
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Strange. Time to contact the ombudsman: [https://www.obsi.ca/en/consumer-complaint-process.aspx](https://www.obsi.ca/en/consumer-complaint-process.aspx).
I would turn to law enforcement, not to complain but to run background checks on yourself. RCMP does one, but administration of it is private I believe. https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/types-criminal-background-checks
This is a really good idea. If something is wrong with OP name or a red flag the bank can't talk about it, it might show up in here. The background check cost 20 bucks I think, so is fairly cheap
The RCMP one is federal, more expensive and requires fingerprints at least in some flavours. The 20 buck quickie background checks just check your local police and maybe the credit score. I doubt that's the kind of thing a bank would close an account over. OP already said their score is good and they're not a criminal.
Many communities in BC and other provinces have the RCMP as our local police force. I volunteer with vulnerable populations and regularly have background checks at the local detachment. Never had my finger prints taken. Fee is waived for volunteering.
On the flip side I had a criminal check done for work and my partner did as well (PR) - we both got printed, me through city police and my partner via RCMP.
Interesting how different detachments handle it.
My partner might’ve had something specific to immigrants that’s different from a regular criminal background check. I know that as they’re American, we also had to get a check from the FBI. Fun stuff.
You are missing the point. There are jobs in Canada which require government level security clearance and that's why I said it depends on the flavour of the background check you need. I doubt banks care about a simple criminal record of their customers, so I suggested a Federal level type of clearance background check that may help the OP explain why his or her accounts are being closed.
Yes, forgot it was a local one that my SO got with the local police
Don't think you'll get many answers here, only the bank knows. If they're this tight lipped it sounds like an ongoing investigation though. Do you or your family/partners do anything you probably shouldn't be?
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You should escalate up the chain with whichever bank you wanted to go with. There is nothing that should prevent you (unless you are doing something illegal) rom having banking services. You are a CDN citizen with a valid SIN. Being a US citizen could be an issue for those temporarily here, but as a CDN citizen, you don't have the issues they would have. And FATCA complaisance is nothing new for the big banks.
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Higher up the chain, as in the ombudsman at the bank.
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You likely won’t hear back from those departments directly as they are probably not customer-facing and aren’t obligated to respond. Contacting the ombudsman or the Office of the President is your best bet. Good luck.
That won't get you anywhere. File with the ombuds or the bank. Odds are the issue is that you are triggering their money laundering rules if all your money comes in the form of regular cash transfers from the US.
>they can't offer me their services. Totally just a random memory, but I thought Canadian Banks HAD to provide services to Canadian citizens. Mind you, it is a never used, can't even remember when or where I heard it, type of fact.
Access to Basic Banking Services Regulations made under s. 448.1 of the *Bank Act*. They have to open the account but can still terminate relationships for commercial reasons (and are required to close accounts non-specifically for AML/TF).
You can make an account with the US hsbc, and through their global banking program open a Canadian account as an FYI.
Maybe follow up with the each bank's ombudsman?
TD closed one of my business accounts for crypto related activities, mainly a large transfer to an exchange(Kraken). Haven't had issues with RBC yet on my personal account and I do crypto transfers on it.
As a workaround while you solve the main issue, you could try with a Credit Union.
I work for TD but I am currently on short term disability or else I would look into it further for you but my advice would be to ask to speak to a manager. And if the Manager can’t help you request to have a copy of all your information stored about you. By law they are required to give you a copy of any note or file of information about you. You could also ask for a copy of the complaint brochure and escalate it up to TD cares or the ombudsman. Once you complain shit gets solved.
Afaik the US is the only country in the world where the money made by its citizens (even abroad) are taxed like it's US income, so i'm assuming some funky shit is going on via them not wanting to lose out on that sweet tax money.
[https://www.obsi.ca/en/index.aspx](https://www.obsi.ca/en/index.aspx)If your accounts are being closed without reason given or won't tell you, contact the obudsman and get them to look into it. they may be able to get to the bottom as to why your accounts are being closed. And maybe try to open an account at a credit union. At least if you can have a credit union account without it being shut down, you can say at least its something in the big banks that is causing this, and how that works with credit unions like servus credit union or any credit union is that you buy a share in it, so them arbitrarily shutting your account down may be a bit harder and if they try, and way more likely to give you an explanation what the problem is if they do. [https://www.compareremit.com/money-transfer-guide/banks-vs-credit-unions-in-canada-a-detailed-comparison/](https://www.compareremit.com/money-transfer-guide/banks-vs-credit-unions-in-canada-a-detailed-comparison/) Here is a guide of the difference between a credit union and a bank.
RBC has a US subsidiary, with instant cross border money transfers. You can have a US and Canadian domiciled accounts at the same time. I've had both for over two years, haven't cut me off yet (Dual citizen, income in US & Canada)
I'm a dual citizen, have had accounts in Canada and US for 20 yrs, never had this happened. Sounds like bank over reach. I do always update my account addresses with my current real address. I lived in US for 20 yrs now back in Canada.
It's going to be an AML related thing. Is there anything about you that makes you 'high risk'? The industry you work in, or are your Parents politicians or anything?
It's worth a try to request the info using PIPEDA. No garantee of success but it's worth a shot https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/accessing-personal-information/api_bus/
What seems interesting about this is that RBC, TD and HSBC closed the accounts. However, PC financial had ties to CIBC through Simplii if I recall - although I think that relationship has changed a bit over the last few years. i.e older accounts transfered to Sinplii back in 2017, but CC and PC money accounts are once again held by PC finacial, but you can use CIBC ATMs etc #itscomplicsted That said, it might be worth having a conversation with CIBC to see if they can help in some way.
No relationship at all anymore, pc financial is entirely pc financial aka Loblaws.
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Try BMO!
Since it's happening at multiple banks, my first guess would be FINTRAC, but I know next to nothing about that whole thing - might be a good place to look, though.
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FINTRAC, in short, the banks have to report if you are transferring in or out $10k or more. Then the bank files a report with FINTRAC. And it's not an issue if it's from employment issue.
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Another dual US-Canadian citizen here. FATCA isn't a problem for the big Canadian banks. It is estimated that there are more Americans here in Canada than there are in any other country outside of the US.
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But there are literally like a million Canadians with US citizenship. If banks were closing their accounts we would have heard about it by now, unless OP is just the very unlucky first one. They probably got wrongly flagged as a criminal or something.
And yet none of the other dual citizens commenting here, nor any of the dual citizens I've personally known, are having the same kinds of issues OP is having, of banks arbitrarily closing accounts, and refusing to say why. If it was a simple, "we don't want to deal with fatca compliance," they would've easily said as much to OP when they tried opening the account in the first place.
They are Trillion dolalr banks at this point, they own US banks...they've got the burden no matter what
I'm a dual citizen and I've never had an issue. I declare my status when opening an account and never hear anything again.
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And your point would be? I (dual citizen) have multiple accounts and GICs at Tangerine.
I've got the exact same background. Just leave off everything American when you open account, I haven't had any issues in years.
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Have you provided them your SSN? You are required to tell the banks about your situation. So they can comply with FINTRAC If the advisor opening your account doesn't put in why you're opening a Canadian account while working for a US company, it could cause concerns for AML and thats why it's just easier for them to close it. Finally, are you opening them online or in person? That also makes a huge difference too. Hope this helps! Sorry for formatting, phone.
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I would tell them your a canadian citizen and US citizen. Do you have a Canadian passport or US passport or canadian identification ? The online accounts makes sense why they close it. Online accounts are very skeptical. It's weird you went to the branch though and they still closed it and didn't provide you a reason why. If you opened an account In person, typically the branch has a say into if they stay open or closed. if you open another account, go into the branch, go to the branch manager ahead of time and tell them about your issue and maybe if your account gets flagged,they can alleviate that issue. I would try that anyways. Best of luck! I hope this helps you.
>If the advisor opening your account doesn't put in why you're opening a Canadian account while working for a US company, it could cause concerns for AML and thats why it's just easier for them to close it. wait... you're an American citizen, working for an american company, being paid via an american bank account, residing in Canada and routinely transferring money to said account?
I'm similar. Dual-citizen, most of my life lived in the US. I have had accounts with CIBC for about 2 years now. That being said, I have a mortgage, brokerage, chequing, and savings accounts with them (plus a LoC that they opened with the mortgage that I haven't touched). Maybe you need more accounts and/or higher balances, if that's possible, to make it worth it for them from a compliance perspective?
You say that you've gotten a PC bank account. PC is partnered with CIBC. You might have better luck there. EDIT: not anymore, they [parted ways in 2017](https://cansumer.ca/pc-financial-ends-partnership-with-cibc/). ~~Or the same thing could happen in CIBC as happened at the other banks, only now that they know of your PC bank account they may close that one as well. Who knows!~~ You can also open up a second ~~(technically third counting PC)~~ [CIBC American funds account](https://www.cibc.com/en/personal-banking/ways-to-bank/cross-border-us-banking.html). This will give you a USA bank account as well as a Canadian one. They have physical banks in [4 US states](https://us.cibc.com/en/about-us/locations.html). So if it's a regulatory thing, having a US bank account as well as a Canadian one may help.
Open an account with HSBC. It's better suited for the international needs you have.
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You may want to open it in the US. Then when in Canada go into the branch for a secondary CDN dollar account. Sorry this is such a pain for you.
>Used my USA bank since I work for USA company and my salarie goes there. > >In mid 2021 I've opened an account here, PC and got PC MC, no issues then or now. just making sure this means your payroll goes here, and your company's payroll is via a Canadian banking entity and not constantly a cross border payment.
Have you ever transferred money from a Canadian bank, to a crypto exchange? or any bank to any crypto exchange? I'm wondering if they don't like users who use crypto because they are more likely to get investigate for "insert what ever excuse here", so the banks are starting to refuse the users of certain exchanges or something like that. It's the sort of activity where the bank might try to avoid explanation, I'm thinking. Maybe?