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US Banks: Give African Embassies a Bank Account
  1. Signatures
    157 out of 200
    Petitioning
    1. HSBC US Investor Relations (+ 5 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • HSBC US Investor Relations
      • Bank of America Investor Relations
      • HSBC US Public Relations (Neil Brazil)
      • Bank of America Public Relations, Mid-Atlantic (Nicole Nastacie)
      • Bank of America Public Relations (Scott Silvestri)
      • HSBC US Public Relations (Diane Soucy Bergan)
  2. Created By
    Benjamin Joffe-Walt
    New York, NY
About this Petition Petition Letter

Two major banks, HSBC USA and Bank of America, have determined that certain clients are not worth the their time: Africans.

Bank of America has closed the bank accounts of the Angolan embassy in Washington, DC, just three months after HSBC USA closed the embassy's accounts as well.

The move is the latest in a growing financial and diplomatic crises concerning the finances of African embassies in the US, over a dozen of which are said to be facing frozen or closed bank accounts, from the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo to Burkina Faso, Burundi, Sierra Leone and Swaziland.

"Some banks feel it's just not worth their time anymore, it's a cost of business they don't want to deal with," a US State Department official recently said.

The banks are under pressure to help rout out money laundering and corruption, but that does not justify blocking the ability of Africa's most senior diplomats from going about their business.

Tell Bank of America and HSBC USA that it is not acceptable to discriminate against African embassies because of the work involved in abiding by domestic and international oversight regulations.

Recent Signatures

Reopen the Angolan Embassy's Bank Accounts

Greetings,

I write to express my concern over the closure or freezing of the bank accounts of African missions to the United States.

It is my understanding that your bank recently closed the bank accounts of the Angolan embassy in Washington, DC, the latest among well over a dozen foreign embassies facing frozen or closed bank accounts, from the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo to Burkina Faso, Burundi, Sierra Leone and Swaziland.

The US has improved its regulatory structure, and for better or worse this increases the costs of business in monitoring such accounts for money laundering, fraud and corrupt activity.

But this cannot be used to justify the decision that providing financial services to African missions in the United States is simply no longer worth it.

Such a decision blocks the ability of Africa's most senior diplomats from going about their business, and amounts to discrimination against African embassies because of the work involved in abiding by domestic and international oversight regulations.

I ask that your bank reopen the bank accounts of the Angolan embassy in Washington, DC, and ensure that a solution amicable to all parties involved is found for any remaining African missions with accounts at your bank.

I look forward to your response.

[Your name]

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