s***c 发帖数: 1926 | 1 入籍也没用,连银行都不准你用。下一步就是没收财产了。
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/07/11/iranian-
ccounts269.html
Several Iranian-Canadians are crying foul after the TD Bank abruptly closed
their accounts with little explanation other than to say it had to comply wi
th federal economic sanctions against Iran.
TD began sending letters to some of its clients in May informing them it wou
ld no longer be offering them banking services so as to abide with changes m
ade last November to the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations, which
prohibit banks from providing financial services that benefit Iran or anyon
e in Iran.
"A recent review has identified you as a person TD is restricted from provid
ing financial services to, from, or for the benefit of under these new regul
ations," TD wrote in one letter to an affected customer, Soudeh Ghasemi of T
oronto.
"As a result, we are informing you that TD will no longer continue to suppor
t your current accounts and/or services." The letter informs Ghasemi that sh
e could apply to the Department of Foreign Affairs for a special permit to c
arry out transactions with Iran.
Ghasemi, a Canadian citizen, told CBC's The Current she was "shocked" when s
he received that letter, saying she does not send any money to Iran.
She said her father also received a similar letter from the bank with regard
s to his mortgage and his personal line of credit.
Later, she and her father received two separate letters in which they were i
nformed the joint business account they held would be closed.
Ghasemi said her father received some money from Iran for a down payment for
a home in Canada. But that transfer took place before the new round of sanc
tions were introduced, said Ghasemi, who doesn't see any legitimate reason f
or the letter.
"We're not involved in any sort of transaction or any sort of activity that
may benefit the government of Iran. And we're not people in Iran. We're perm
anent residents and citizens of Canada," she said.
Ghasemi said her father goes to Iran about once a year for business and for
personal reasons, but does not support the current regime. None of the money
from her Canadian accounts goes to her father's farming business in Iran, s
he said.
'Virtually no notice'
The Iranian Canadian Congress held a fact-finding meeting this weekend in To
ronto to talk about the issue, which drew between 60 and 70 people.
Kaveh Shahrooz, the vice-chair of the congress, said there were a lot of "ve
ry, very distressing" stories recounted at the meeting.
"A lot of people [said] 'We've been loyal customers of TD for a number of ye
ars and we are in compliance with all the laws as far as we know. And yet un
fortunately, with virtually no notice, TD has decided to close our accounts,
'" said Shahrooz, a lawyer by trade.
"It's … given no explanation as to why this has happened and made some cryp
tic reference to the sanctions. But anytime they've sought some further expl
anation, they've been stonewalled and treated very, very badly."
He couldn't say exactly how many people have been affected. He said at this
time it appears TD is the only bank sending out these letters.
"I have every hope and faith that [TD is] not really out to harm anyone, the
y're just overzealously applying these sanctions," said Shahrooz. "We're als
o going to be reaching out to policy makers, explaining to them the effect t
hat this action is having."
TD bank said in an email that "decisions to end customer relationships are n
ot undertaken lightly and we took additional steps to reach out by phone and
by registered mail to those who might be impacted by the regulations in que
stion, in order to verify their information."
"In cases where we did not hear back from a customer to confirm their inform
ation, we were required meet the regulations and so we ended the relationshi
p."
The Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, said in an email that the appl
ication of the new rules to any individual account "must be determined on a
case-by-case basis."
The email says there are exemptions — people who need to carry out transact
ions in order to fulfil arrangements that were set up before the sanctions t
ook effect can do so.
Money can also be sent to and from Iran, so long as it is not for commercial
purposes and so long as each individual transaction is less than $40,000. |
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