UBS closes Islamic Relief account over terror risk

The U.K. based Muslim charity Islamic Relief has had its account closed and zakat donations to its account blocked by Swiss bank UBS due to counter-terror concerns.  Islamic Relief is the world’s largest Islamic non-governmental organization, and Israel has previously accused it of funding Hamas.

UBS’s action is similar to the decision made by Minnesota banks to cease remittance services to Somalia.  The risk that such transactions will be used for terrorism is simply too great a risk for the banks to bear.

Bravo to UBS for its gutsy and sensible move.  No doubt European financial regulators will attempt to investigate and excoriate UBS for the action…

Banking sector nerves blocking international relief, says Islamic Relief FD

Niki May Young| 8 Nov 2012

Islamic Relief has recently had its bank account closed by UBS, and is under constant scrutiny by other banks due to nervousness about counter-terrorist regulations, the charity’s director of finance told an audience of international charity regulators yesterday.

Islamic Relief, a charity launched in the UK 30 years ago with an income now over £80m annually, has both incoming and outgoing transactions stopped on a daily basis either temporarily or permanently, said Haroun Atallah, who is a former auditor…

Islamic Relief blames the closure on double standards on charities working in the Middle East and over-zealous implementation of financial regulations by the banks.  If Islamic Relief wants somebody to blame for this situation, it should first blame itself for working with Hamas and affiliating itself with Muslim Brotherhood leaders.

Do read the rest at at Civil Society please.  This is major news.