Hello everyone. I have a question that maybe you could answer.

I live in Japan and wanted to open a US account. I'm a US citizen with a valid SSN.

I spoke to my godmother about this who was a client of Merrill Lynch. They told her that they could open one for me. A rep from her Merrill Lynch branch then sent me an email introducing themselves. They sent me applications to open a savings.

With the my godmother's permission and my banks awareness, the mailing address for the account was my godmothers. In fact one of the applications had her address pre filled in on it. This was sent to me with the bank's full awareness that I reside in Japan. I filled out the forms, sent them to Merrill, and the account was open.

My question is this: Was it legal for the bank to use my godmother's address? Again, they were well aware I was in Japan, and accepted the application with her address on it. If some law has been broken, what's the worst that can happen?

Thank you.

Comments

tinyelefants t1_iud4hxx wrote on October 30, 2022 at 12:49 PM

US Banks can close your account at any time for any reason.

Mashtatoes t1_iuc7bx1 wrote on October 30, 2022 at 5:34 AM

If the bank knows (especially if you have written recognition of this), you’ll be just fine.

Musical_Jason3625 OP t1_iuc7hqe wrote on October 30, 2022 at 5:36 AM

Thanks!

tjguitar1985 t1_iud3w7r wrote on October 30, 2022 at 12:43 PM

The worst that can happen is they close your account and send you a check.

Musical_Jason3625 OP t1_iud44df wrote on October 30, 2022 at 12:46 PM

Thanks. Why would they close the account over an address they gave me permission to use?

tjguitar1985 t1_iud4rnw wrote on October 30, 2022 at 12:52 PM

Compliance. Many banks and brokers freeze or close accounts when they find out an American is abroad. I'd Log in with a VPN.