Israeli Bank Not Allowed to Close Crypto Miner’s Account, Says Tel Aviv Court
According to a recent report, a court in Israel has ruled in favour of a virtual currency related business which sued a local bank for the closure of its account without stating any tangible reason. The court which is located in Tel Aviv said that a bank is not allowed to disagree to operate an account on behalf of a crypto miner.
Banks Not Allowed to Close Miner’s Account
Based on a recent report, the Judge of Tel Aviv District Court, Limor Bibi has given the verdict that the Union Bank of Israel, Ltd. (TASE: UNON) which is the 6th largest bank in Israel is not allowed to close the account of Israminers Ltd, a local cryptocurrency mining company stating that the bank’s rule regarding the opening of any cryptocurrency related account for customers is not fair.
The bank is however allowed to turn down requests by companies to deposit fiat money provided it is coming from unknown companies so as to not breach the anti-money laundering and know your customer legal requirements by the banking system.
Judge Bibi said that:
“I believe that the sweeping policy, which does not distinguish between different types of activity, the scope of activity and different types of customers – in the field of digital currencies – is unreasonable.”
She then went further to say that:
“In these circumstances, I find the bank’s argument that, given that the ‘money trail’, as defined, in terms of sales in a trading arena to an unknown factor which knowledge of it hasn’t been proven, creates risks of money laundering. As a result, I find the bank’s refusal to provide service with regard to the receipt of the money deposited in the account as reasonable.”
