TD began sending letters to some of its clients in May
informing them it would no longer be offering them banking services so as to
abide with changes made last November to the Special Economic Measures (Iran)
Regulations, which prohibit banks from providing financial services that
benefit Iran or anyone in Iran.
"A recent review has identified you as a person TD
is restricted from providing financial services to, from, or for the benefit of
under these new regulations," TD wrote in one letter to an affected
customer, Soudeh Ghasemi of Toronto.
"As a result, we are informing you that TD will no
longer continue to support your current accounts and/or services." The
letter informs Ghasemi that she could apply to the Department of Foreign
Affairs for a special permit to carry out transactions with Iran.
Ghasemi, a Canadian citizen, told CBC's The Current
she was "shocked" when she 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 regards to his mortgage and his personal line of credit.
Later, she and her father received two separate letters
in which they were informed 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 sanctions were introduced, said Ghasemi, who doesn't see any
legitimate reason for 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 permanent 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, she said.
'Virtually no notice'
The Iranian Canadian Congress held a fact-finding meeting
this weekend in Toronto 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 "very, very distressing" stories recounted at the
meeting.
"A lot of people [said] 'We've been loyal customers
of TD for a number of years and we are in compliance with all the laws as far
as we know. And yet unfortunately, 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 cryptic reference to the sanctions. But anytime they've
sought some further explanation, 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, they're just overzealously applying these sanctions,"
said Shahrooz. "We're also going to be reaching out to policy makers,
explaining to them the effect that this action is having."
TD bank said in an email that "decisions to end
customer relationships are not 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 question, in order to verify their information."
"In cases where we did not hear back from a customer
to confirm their information, we were required meet the regulations and so we
ended the relationship."
The Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, said in an
email that the application 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 transactions in order to fulfil arrangements that were set up before
the sanctions took 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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