The Paris based Association des Américains Accidentels (Association of Accidental Americans, or AAA) has filed two legal complaints simultaneously in Belgium and Luxemburg, in which it demands the “immediate halt to the transfer of European citizens’ personal data to the United States”.

Time magazine, one of the longest-established and best-known weekly magazines in the U.S., has become the latest mainstream media outlet to run a major article about America's so-called "accidental Americans," and their struggles to maintain bank accounts in the countries in which they live and are citizens of, as a result of the controversial U.S. law known as FATCA. 

American expats and "accidental Americans" have complained furiously for more than six years about the US$2,350 fee that the U.S. has charged (since 2014)  for the renunciation of one's American citizenship.

A new French television advertisement featuring the American film star Brad Pitt, which shows him appearing to make use of a Boursorama Banque card while going about the streets of New York City, has drawn criticism from the Paris-based Association of Accidental Americans. In real life, the AAA points out, the bank wouldn't accept Pitt as a customer because of the fact that he's a U.S. citizen. 

The head of the Brussels-based European Banking Federation, which represents some 3,500 banks across Europe, has warned U.S. Treasury officials that American expats may continue to struggle to get and keep bank accounts if something isn't done to address the problems his organization's members still face in their efforts to implement the American tax evasion law known as FATCA.