One of Europe’s leading banks, ABN AMRO announced last Tuesday that they will officially ban all Americans from their bank portfolio investment accounts in 30 days.

Citing “strategic reasons,” an ABN AMRO spokesman in Amsterdam condescendingly said the bank would still allow U.S. passport holders to have checking and savings accounts at ABN AMRO. But any Americans would have to close their ABN AMRO investment accounts. Investment accounts include funds investing in stocks. The spokesman did not say who would cover losses if they resulted from this abrupt action.

This decision has nothing to do with individual clients, but it’s “part of a strategic assessment and affects only a very small part of the client base,” the spokesman said without giving any details. De Telegraaf reported that the decision to cancel the accounts was a result of high costs in complying with American and IRS regulatory laws.

So what’s the significance of one of the world’s largest banks rejecting all American investment clients?

It means that, by indirection, the IRS is slowly succeeding in imposing de facto currency controls on Americans. It has become so onerous for foreign banks to comply with U.S. regulations, they don’t even want to try anymore.

Throughout the 10 years of The Sovereign Society’s existence, we have repeatedly underscored one basic fact: Politicians and bureaucrats who run the United States government have done everything they can to prevent Americans from “going offshore” financially.

Beginning with the New Deal in the 1930s, restrictive SEC rules cut off most U.S. investors from direct foreign investments. Now IRS “qualified intermediary” rules claim U.S. jurisdiction over foreign banks’ operations and demand they follow Washington’s rules. The U.S. government, and especially the IRS, have done all they can to keep you and your money at home - where, under the PATRIOT Act, they can confiscate cash at will and in secret.

It seems the handwriting is on the bank wall. With over 105,000 employees during 1991-2007, ABN AMRO became one of the largest banks in Europe, with operations in 63 countries around the world. One of the world’s leading asset managers, the bank managed over €175 billion (US$265 billion) in assets worldwide. ABM AMRO was a Dutch bank with a history dating back to the founding of the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij in 1824. ABN Amro never has been a bank we recommended to our members and readers, but we do strongly recommend offshore bank accounts for asset protection and as investment vehicles.

It is indeed a sad commentary on how far the United States has fallen in the world when a major foreign bank no longer wants Americans as clients. And that rejection happened on the very day that the dollar reached a new low of US$1.50 against the euro. That, also, tells us something.

In her A-Letter remarks, our Managing Director Erika Nolan rightfully warned: “If you do nothing else in the next six months, at the very least, open an offshore bank account to gain access to global markets and foreign currencies while securing an additional bit of asset protection. You’ll be able to sleep better at night knowing that you have a path around the Wall Street monopoly.”

The Sovereign Society can provide you with an offshore bank account securely located in places such as Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, Singapore or Panama, to mention only a few.

But as Erika says, you had better act now.

BOB BAUMAN, Legal Counsel

P.S. Next week, a small elite group of individuals will meet in Whistler, Canada for their own personalized wealth protection retreat. We’ve invited wealth preservation experts (including offshore bankers, attorneys and other offshore specialists) from around the globe to meet with these individuals. Each of our guests will sit down one-on-one with each of our wealth preservation specialists privately. And together, they will create personalized wealth protection plans. This is the ONLY event like this in 2008. I hear we have one or two spaces left if you still want to join us. So if you’re interested, please call David Newman today at 866-765-7506 for the full details on our Permanent Wealth Protection Summit.