UK-based banking giant HSBC has ended its links with Britain's biggest government-funded Muslim charity allegedly over fears of terror funding.
The bank had taken the decision to cut ties with Islamic Relief a year ago amid concerns that cash for aid could end up with terrorist groups abroad, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday. The decision, which has not been made public before, has upset the charity, that receives millions of pounds from the UK's Department for International Development (DfID).
Islamic Relief says HSBC's stance led to delays in buying tents for survivors of the Nepal earthquake last year. HSBC has halted services for other Muslim groups in the past, but Islamic Relief - which operates in more than 40 countries - is the most high-profile to be affected.
Imran Madden, Islamic Relief's UK director, said discussions took place with HSBC in 2014 in which "the bank felt it difficult to continue its relationship with us due to the nature of our work". Madden told the newspaper: "They invited us to end the relationship which we did at the end of the year. We were and remain extremely surprised by HSBC's stance.
"Islamic Relief's mission is to alleviate poverty and suffering where most needed and that means we are committed to operating in complex conflicts where proscribed organisations are sometimes active.
"It appears that this is deemed a risk too far by HSBC, but we continue to be trusted to deliver aid in such places by governments and by other financial institutions." The charity was set up in 1984, and from 2012-14 received about 4 million pounds from DfID's aid budget including funds to educate children affected by the Syrian war.
DfID said funding was subject to "rigorous checks". A source close to the charity told the 'Times', its problems with HSBC stem from its work in the Middle East, including projects in Gaza and Syria.
The Israeli government had banned Islamic Relief from the West Bank in 2014, accusing it of funnelling money to Hamas, which Israel, the US and EU regard as a terrorist group. The charity denies the claim and said an independent audit found no evidence to support it a view shared by the DEC and DfID.
The charity, which spent more than 70 million pounds in 2014, still banks with other major British banks Barclays and NatWest, according to its accounts. HSBC said: "Whenever we review a customer relationship, we gather information from a wide range of sources and take a number of factors into consideration.
"For a business customer these factors would typically include the type of activities the business is involved in, the jurisdictions in which it operates and the products and services it uses. "Although we can't always be specific about why we decide to close an account, a decision of this kind is never taken lightly and is never due to the customer's race or religion."
