A number of Israel’s bitcoin traders have already filed lawsuits against the country’s banks and on Monday traders lodged a formal petition demanding that the financial industry explains its cryptoasset policy.
Israel’s banks have barred the country’s crypto investors from depositing the returns on their bitcoin and other digital currency investments due to the nation’s strict laws on money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
In recent months banks have even blocked investors who are known to trade cryptoassets from opening accounts, according to a report by Israeli business journal Globes.
Central Bank Warning
Israel has seen strong growth in digital currency investment in recent years and in 2014 the Bank of Israel, the nation’s central bank, issued a warning – in co-operation with the Tax Authority and several regulatory agencies – about the dangers associated with the use of virtual currency, including fraud and money laundering.
Taking aim directly at financial services providers, the statement said:
As the use of virtual currencies enables their anonymous transfer, in many cases evading the need to use financial institutions that are subject to an anti-money laundering and terror financing prohibition regime, this is an activity with a high risk co-efficient in terms of money laundering and terror financing. Therefore, financial institutions must take this into account within the framework of their risk management policy.
Injunction
Israel’s top legal authority is well aware a problem exists. In February 2018, the Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction prohibiting a bank from blocking activities in an account held by a company that engaged in bitcoin trading.
The bank, however, countered the Supreme Court’s injunction, citing the 2014 Bank of Israel warning regarding the risks of bitcoin trade. The bank alleged that activities exposing the bank to such unlawful acts might “harm its reputation and public trust in the bank”.
While the injunction stood, it did not affect the bank’s right to examine individual activities in the account, nor did it affect the bank’s ability to take steps to minimize risks associated with the business activities of the company.
Freedom of Information
The freedom of information petition filed in the Jerusalem District Court on Monday by the Israel Bitcoin Association demands that commercial banks make public their policies on cryptoassets.
Jonathan Klinger, legal adviser to the Bitcoin Association, told Globes:
Under the Banking (Licensing) Law, it is the duty of a bank to state to the Bank of Israel the policy under which it refuses to conduct transactions. We therefore contacted the Bank of Israel and asked for this information, but the Bank of Israel did not agree to disclose this policy to us. We therefore decided to petition the court to force the Bank of Israel to provide us with a copy of the policy submitted to it by the banks.
Lawsuits
Last week the Tel Aviv District Court received a petition for approval of a 75 million shekel ($21.3 million) class action suit against Bank Hapoalim that alleges the bank refused a customer seeking to deposit money from the sale of digital currencies.
