US pressure on foreign banks means that they no longer want American customers (unless, of course, you are very rich). As I understand it, the pressure is basically blackmail: There can be no legal requirement for foreign banks to implement FATCA; the unspoken threat is that non-compliant banks might no longer be allowed to trade on American stock exchanges.

This isn’t the first such extra-legal rule from the US. Foreign banks are required to report to the US when foreigners trade US stocks. The US requires information on all international SWIFT transfers, even if the transfer is entirely outside the US and between two foreign entities. All enforced with the vague threat of excluding banks from American markets.

I would be very interested in hearing an analysis of the legality of this behavior by the US. Any experts out there?