Thirty days after TD Bank Group said it would “reach out” to some Iranian-Canadian clients whose accounts were closed, affected clients say they have not heard one word from the bank.
On July 6, The Ottawa Citizen reported that TD had begun sending letters to Iranian-Canadian clients whose accounts it had closed. The letters told clients that under recent changes to the “Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulation” of Canada’s federal government, Canadian financial institutions are barred from providing financial services to anyone in Iran or for the benefit of Iran, or any client with an active residential or employment address in Iran.
That is TD’s interpretation of the government rules. So far as is known, no other bank in Canada has closed even a single Iranian-Canadian’s account.
The TD Bank said it tried to contact customers who were affected by the new regulations, and, in cases where it did not hear back, it said it was forced to close the accounts.
In response to appeals from the Iranian-Canadian community, TD said July 16 it would take the next 30 days to contact customers who did not respond to the bank’s initial efforts to update their information, possibly leading to the restoration of some banking relationships.
Last Friday, the Iranian Canadian Congress (ICC) met with a group of Iranian-Canadians in Toronto whose accounts were closed under the sanctions. At the meeting, no one indicated they had heard from TD in the last 30 days.
ICC Vice President Kaveh Shahrooz said, “I actually put the question to the group and I think one person heard of someone who had been contacted, but no one at the meeting themselves had actually been contacted directly.”
TD said it began reaching out July 23 to customers who never responded to the initial letters and calls. The bank said a “handful” of accounts have been restored on a case-by-case basis. It did not give a concrete number.
However, TD told The Citizen most affected customers were not reachable. “Many of the customers we tried to contact were unreachable as their phone was disconnected or they were not at their last known address. In cases where we weren’t able to reach a customer by phone, we left messages and continued to follow up in an effort to reach the customer on the phone,” said TD Bank Group Spokesperson Moham-med Nakhooda.
Nakhooda said in several cases TD was able to confirm the impacted customer was out of the country with an unknown return date. There were also customers who confirmed they have a residence or employment address in Iran, which TD said meant it could not restore the relationship.
According to the Canadian Bankers Association, it is up to each bank individually to ensure compliance with Canada’s economic sanctions. Neither the association nor the federal government commented whether TD was acting properly or going beyond the scope of the new rules.
Nakhooda said in cases where the bank successfully contacted customers who expressed an interest in updating their information, the bank made appointments for them to come into their local TD branch.
Pooya Sadeghi is an Iranian-Canadian who started a Facebook group called “Condemn TD Bank in their Treatment of Clients with Iranian Background.” He told The Citizen TD ceased providing services to his family in May. He says the damage is done and, at this point, he is seeking an apology, not a restored account.
“It doesn’t matter if they call us or not. I’m not going to answer them,” Sadeghi said. “If they would apologize, that would be great. But they won’t.”
Shahrooz said, “TD would be well advised to acknowledge the fact that they have hurt the feelings of members of the community.”
A group of Iranian-Canadians is planning a public demonstration to condemn the actions of the bank outside a TD branch in downtown Toronto August 25.
