HSC presented at a roundtable in January 2017 in Washington DC, part of an ongoing dialogue convened by the World Bank and ACAMS, to discuss the issue of banks excluding certain clients or refusing to transfer funds to certain locations, either for business reasons or due to concerns about risk. This is greatly affecting, amongst others, charities and humanitarian organizations. The objectives of this multistakeholder meeting, which included banks, nonprofit organizations, financial supervisors and policymakers, law enforcement and international organizations, were:
The promoting of access of humanitarian organizations to financial services, through:
- Fostering the relationship between non-profit organizations (NPOs) and banks,
- Improving the regulatory and policy climate for banks and NPOs, and
- Building coalitions and sharing information and good practices.
For the report that resulted from these consultations, see here.
The dialogue series continued in June 2018 with participants from NPOs, the US government, the United Nations, financial institutions and payment service providers - all with the aim of discussing practical solutions to
improve access to financial services for NPOs. The meeting focused on three topics in relation to financial access challenges faced by NPOs:
1. regulatory approaches,
2. assessing and managing risk, and
3. the role of technology
For the report from this 2018 meeting, see here.
