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| Great White North |
| Muslim groups urge Canada to stand up to U.S. banking restrictions, |
| 2007-01-17 |
| Prime Minister Stephen Harper should stand up to the U.S. government and make it stop pressuring Canadian banks into denying U.S. dollar accounts to customers of certain nationalities, Muslim groups said yesterday. The groups decried as discriminatory a Royal Bank decision to deny U.S. dollar accounts to citizens of six sanctioned countries - including Iraq, Iran and Sudan - even if those customers also hold Canadian citizenship. Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, said that the Royal Bank and other banks should refuse to comply with U.S. regulations, and he called on the prime minister to fight Washington for infringing on Canadian sovereignty. "It's unacceptable," he said in a telephone interview from Waterloo, Ont. "It seems the Americans are blackmailing Canadian banks to follow their policy. "We will ask the prime minister to intervene to protect Canadian citizens, immigrants and visa holders from intimidation by Americans." Elmasry added that the Royal Bank should "not succumb to Americans dictating what we can and cannot do in Canada." But Royal Bank spokesperson David Moorcroft said the bank has no choice but to comply with U.S. government regulations aimed at fighting terrorism financing and money laundering and at enforcing sanctions. The rules apply to citizens and/or residents of Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Cuba, North Korea and Myanmar who want to use U.S. dollar chequing accounts. The same rules apply to banks around the world, Moorcroft said. He said cheques drawn on U.S. dollar accounts for transactions outside Canada are processed in the United States and therefore must comply with that country's laws. "Clients open (accounts) in U.S. dollars primarily to make payments into the U.S. or in other countries that will be processed through the U.S.," Moorcroft said. "If you want to use their currency, in their country, through their clearing-and-payment system, they want you to obey their rules." Moorcroft said the United States has been stepping up its enforcement of the long-standing rules over the past year and any bank that doesn't comply faces fines and even the loss of access to the U.S. payments system. A pair of European banks have already been assessed fines running into the millions, he said. "If we didn't apply this policy properly, we could lose the right to provide this service to over 600,000 people." Moorcroft said a couple of dozen people have been denied U.S. dollar accounts while a small number of clients have had their accounts taken away. Several other banks take a different view on the issue. Spokespersons for the TD Bank, the Bank of Montreal and the Bank of Nova Scotia said they don't deny U.S. dollar accounts to citizens of countries on the list as long as they meet normal requirements. A National Bank spokesperson said the bank does comply with the U.S. regulations, although it has never had occasion to refuse an account to a client for that reason. Salam Elmenyawi, president of the Muslim Council of Montreal, called the enforcement of U.S. regulations in Canada discriminatory, racist and a denial of the presumption of innocence. "Take an Iranian, for example, who is a good Canadian citizen or landed immigrant, why would he be prevented from having an account?" Elmenyawi asked. "How can this advance any cause? "How can another country come to interfere with us and say: 'I will force you to act against your constitution and I will force you to discriminate in such a way'?" He said banks enforcing the rules should reverse their policy and the federal government should get involved to "ensure our institutions aren't bullied." But a spokesperson for the federal Finance Department said wire transfers, cheques and drafts drawn on U.S dollar accounts pass through U.S. institutions to be processed and are subject to U.S. law. "At the end of the day, the Canadian government does not have the legislative authority to change U.S. law," said Eric Richer, a spokesperson for Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. "It's up to the Canadian banks to determine how to comply with U.S. law with respect to their U.S. dollar accounts." Richer declined to comment on the possibility of a diplomatic effort to get the rules changed. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #4 So the problems or failures of Islam is due to the Mackenzie Bros. not giving enough??? IOW, sounds like ME'sters want a return to controversial 1970's-style Arab dollars account practices. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-01-17 22:03 |
| #3 Be reasonable, see it our way. Or get your US bucks cut off. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-01-17 12:38 |
| #2 "Take an Iranian, for example, who is a good Canadian citizen or landed immigrant, why would he be prevented from having an account?" Elmenyawi asked. "How can this advance any cause? Nice slip-up, Salami. That would be a Canadian of Iranian descent, wouldn't it? Muzzie first, always |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-01-17 10:01 |
| #1 "How can another country come to interfere with us and say: 'I will force you to act against your constitution and I will force you to discriminate in such a way'?" I dunno. How can someone come to another country and demand we follow their religious practices? |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-01-17 07:40 |