Le Pen cries foul after two banks close personal, party accounts
paris/nanterre — French farright leader Marine Le Pen accused two banks on Wednesday of launching a “banking fatwa” to silence her National Front party by closing bank accounts of her and her party’s.
The banks said they had acted within regulatory requirements but declined to offer fuller explanations. Le Pen is smarting from defeat in this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections, during which she accused French banks of being politically biased for not lending to her campaigns.
“This is an attempt to suffocate an opposition party, and no democrat should accept that,” Le Pen told a news conference, calling on President Emmanuel Macron and other political parties to back her National Front (FN).
Le Pen said the FN would file a complaint against Societe Generale and its subsidiary, Credit du Nord. She also plans a complaint against HSBC for closing a personal account of hers.
The FN says Societe Generale closed its accounts earlier this month, and when the central bank ordered a subsidiary, Credit du Nord, to manage an account for the party, the bank refused to process cheque and credit card payments.
Societe Generale rejected the accusations. “Decisions to open or close a bank account depend purely on banking reasons ... without taking into account any political consideration,” it said in a statement. — Reuters