American Citizens Abroad (ACA), the voice of Americans overseas, recently sent a statement in response to President Barack Obama’s editorial in the Wall Street Journal, 18 January 2011, “Toward a 21st-Century Regulatory System”.“ACA wholeheartedly supports President Obama’s efforts to streamline the nation’s complex and often redundant regulatory system but believes any kind of serious reform must include measures that improve America’s financial health and export competitiveness: among them, elimination of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA),” ACA stated.“As the President aptly stated in his editorial, ‘sometimes rules have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business’.“The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a clear example of this as many foreign banks and financial institutions are now systematically divesting from US securities and dropping all their US clients. This has resulted in a two-tier banking system that is isolating the United States and hindering our competitiveness worldwide and especially against emerging market competitors such as China.“What’s more, FATCA is aimed at curbing wealthy tax evaders a laudable goal but the US already has multiple tools to do this that do not come at the expense of burdening American businesses and the US citizens overseas that are being denied banking services. If the President is truly serious about curbing excessive government regulation, eliminating FATCA must be the first step.”Additionally, ACA has prepared a lengthy comment letter to US Internal Revenue Service in response to the IRS call for comments on the draft versions of a new Form 8938 “Statement of Foreign Financial Assets”.Form 8938 will have to be attached to a US citizen’s, dual citizen with the United States and green card holder’s (LTR - long term resident) annual US tax return “if you owned specified foreign financial assets having an aggregate value of more than $50,000 in reporting period”.The form requires full details concerning any financial account maintained by a foreign financial institution, any stock or security issued by a non-US person, any financial instrument or contract held for investment that has an issuer or counterparty other than a US person, and/or any interest in a foreign entity.ACA further stated that the FATCA legislation, in general, and Form 8938 which is the object of the present comments, in particular, are clear examples of discrimination against one group of American citizens - those residing abroad.FATCA is intended to catch tax evaders, a goal that the ACA and other associations fully support. Imposing a significant reporting burden on the five million American citizens abroad is not the answer.The community of overseas American citizens is by far the largest group of US taxpayers (more than 5.2 million) directly and significantly impacted by the new Form 8938. It would be difficult to reside abroad without having at least one foreign bank account in your country of residence and in its currency. The majority of Americans residing abroad are long-term overseas residents, and therefore have investments, pensions, life insurance, etc. abroad.It is estimated that there are more than 4,000 US citizens, dual citizens with the United States, and green card holders (permanent residents) working and residing with their families in Bermuda.Martha Harris Myron, JP CPA(USA) CFP® TEP, the American Citizens Abroad Country Representative for Bermuda. Questions and concerns are received confidentially at 296-3528, Patterson Partners Ltd, or martha.myron@gmail.com