Two months ago, the Cordoba Foundation, a British think tank, was organising a forum in central London about political tensions in Tunisia. But when trying to settle invoices, its efforts to pay for the event failed. “Multiple attempts to pay the venue provider and suppliers kept declining while payments from donors into our NatWest account kept being rejected,” said Anas Altikriti, head of the group. He said the bank didn’t send him any letters, and when he called NatWest, a customer representative said they not have the authority to disclose details, only the fact that the account had been closed. Altikriti was informed that his foundation’s business and personal accounts at the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is owned by the NatWest Group, were also being closed. Once again, the bank failed to provide detailed reasons.
Recent research has found that banks in the United Kingdom are closing up to 1,000 accounts a day. Banks call this “de-risking”, a term that usually means rejecting people, businesses and organisations deemed financially or legally risky. Sometimes, accounts are shuttered if the holder could cause reputational damage to the bank. Fadi Itani, head of the of Muslim Charities Forum in London, told Al Jazeera that at least 50 organisations have faced bank closures. The Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella group representing UK Muslims, recently wrote a letter to Sunak, Labour leader Keir Starmer and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt saying Muslim individuals and organisations have been “disproportionately affected by this issue”. He blamed “institutional Islamophobia” in the UK for the banks’ actions. “Whether its people in the media, the banks or the politicians, few if any came to show us [Muslims] support over the years,” he told Al Jazeera. “It demonstrates a clear double standard.”
In 2014, besides Altikiriti, at least two others were affected – London’s Finsbury Park Mosque and the UK-based Ummah Welfare Trust, an organisation that collects aid for more than a dozen countries, including Palestine and Afghanistan. In 2017, the mosque received compensation and an apology from the Thomson Reuters Foundation, which previously owned World-Check. But even after the apology, Kozbar said several of the mosque’s bank account applications failed.
Arun Kundnani, the British author of What is Antiracism? And Why it Means Anticapitalism, told Al Jazeera that denying bank accounts “because someone somewhere without tested evidence has decided to label you an ‘extremist’ not only banishes you from any kind of economic activity but also weakens democracy”.
“Democracy depends on the freedom to dissent. That freedom is curtailed when financial institutions or government agencies punish dissenters by excluding them from access to economic activity,” he told Al Jazeera.
Farage was right? @ Al Jazeera
Recent research has found that banks in the United Kingdom are closing up to 1,000 accounts a day. Banks call this “de-risking”, a term that usually means rejecting people, businesses and organisations deemed financially or legally risky. Sometimes, accounts are shuttered if the holder could cause reputational damage to the bank. Fadi Itani, head of the of Muslim Charities Forum in London, told Al Jazeera that at least 50 organisations have faced bank closures. The Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella group representing UK Muslims, recently wrote a letter to Sunak, Labour leader Keir Starmer and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt saying Muslim individuals and organisations have been “disproportionately affected by this issue”. He blamed “institutional Islamophobia” in the UK for the banks’ actions. “Whether its people in the media, the banks or the politicians, few if any came to show us [Muslims] support over the years,” he told Al Jazeera. “It demonstrates a clear double standard.”
In 2014, besides Altikiriti, at least two others were affected – London’s Finsbury Park Mosque and the UK-based Ummah Welfare Trust, an organisation that collects aid for more than a dozen countries, including Palestine and Afghanistan. In 2017, the mosque received compensation and an apology from the Thomson Reuters Foundation, which previously owned World-Check. But even after the apology, Kozbar said several of the mosque’s bank account applications failed.
Arun Kundnani, the British author of What is Antiracism? And Why it Means Anticapitalism, told Al Jazeera that denying bank accounts “because someone somewhere without tested evidence has decided to label you an ‘extremist’ not only banishes you from any kind of economic activity but also weakens democracy”.
“Democracy depends on the freedom to dissent. That freedom is curtailed when financial institutions or government agencies punish dissenters by excluding them from access to economic activity,” he told Al Jazeera.
Farage was right? @ Al Jazeera
