<story><title>Customers are getting caught up as banks de-risk due to money laundering laws</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jan/22/barclays-took-my-440000-customers-caught-up-banks-de-risking-money-laundering-laws</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>rlpb</author><text>&amp;gt; ...if criminal behaviour is suspected, facilities can be legally withdrawn.&lt;p&gt;This is unacceptable. The UK government has pushed all the risk to the bank, and this quasi-legal removal of the rule of law with respect to citizens having control of their own money is the result.&lt;p&gt;It should not be legal for the bank to withdraw access to funds for an extended period of time without a criminal standard of evidence.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>sametmax</author><text>Well, we let them write undemocratic laws for security reasons because &amp;quot;terrorism&amp;quot;. It&amp;#x27;s our fault.</text></comment>
<story><title>Customers are getting caught up as banks de-risk due to money laundering laws</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jan/22/barclays-took-my-440000-customers-caught-up-banks-de-risking-money-laundering-laws</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>rlpb</author><text>&amp;gt; ...if criminal behaviour is suspected, facilities can be legally withdrawn.&lt;p&gt;This is unacceptable. The UK government has pushed all the risk to the bank, and this quasi-legal removal of the rule of law with respect to citizens having control of their own money is the result.&lt;p&gt;It should not be legal for the bank to withdraw access to funds for an extended period of time without a criminal standard of evidence.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>retube</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s a direct result of the regulatory and reputational risks that banks now face. Threatened with multi-billion dollar fines for facilitating money laundering they&amp;#x27;re not taking any chances.</text></comment>