Al Rayan Bank gives 'dubious' reply to terrorism funding accusations

Al Rayan Bank has given a reply to the terrorism funding accusations made against it by the UK based newspaper The Times. The Qatari bank called the report of the newspaper misleading but refused to comment on the individual customers citing privacy laws. The Times newspaper reported on Monday that among the account holders of the bank are organizations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, a charity banned in the US as a terrorist entity, groups that promote hard-line preachers, and a mosque whose trustee is a Hamas leader.

The bank whose headquarters is in Birmingham in central England said, "Al Rayan Bank deplores today's (5 August) attack in The Times newspaper, which is full of smear-by-association and innuendo and targets eleven of the Bank's 85,000 customers. In particular, the Bank does not accept or endorse The Times' depictions of the organizations highlighted in the article."

"To reiterate, Al Rayan Bank does not support any organization or event that promotes extreme or violent views or ideologies. The Bank complies with UK regulatory requirements at all times and only provides banking services to entities which are authorized to operate under UK law and regulations."

"Al Rayan Bank has been operating in the UK since 2004 and serves individuals, businesses and charities of all faiths and none. The Bank conducts careful vetting of its customers; it does not rely on misleading newspaper reports."

"As a matter of client confidentiality, data protection rules, and privacy laws, the Bank does not discuss individual customers and therefore cannot comment any further."