The Human Rights Commission says it is concerning to hear an Iranian-born New Zealand man was allegedly racially profiled by a bank.
Auckland man Arsalan Abdollahi, who is a New Zealand citizen, told the NZ Herald he opened a bank account for his Remuera-based legal research and advocacy company with TSB.
However, the account was closed after 10 days which he says was due to TSB wrongly assessing him as being at risk of money laundering or financing international terrorism because of his ethnicity NZ Herald reported.
One internal email obtained under the Privacy Act showed a TSB manager wrote: "He had dual citizenship with Iran so should have been dealt with differently from the start".
TSB denies racial bias was a factor in its decision.
Speaking to Newshub, a Human Rights Commission spokesperson said they were "concerned" to hear bank customers were reportedly being treated differently due to their ethnicity.
"Ethnicity and national origin is a prohibited ground of discrimination under the Human Rights Act," they said.
"The Human Rights Act also provides that it is unlawful for providers of services and facilities to the public, including banks to treat people less favourably in connection with the provision of those services or facilities, on the basis of the prohibited grounds of discrimination. This is the general position, although the Act does provide for some limited exceptions that might apply in certain cases."
They said anyone who believes they have been discriminated against can file a complaint with the commission, and if it can't be resolved it can be escalated to the Human Rights Review Tribunal.
A TSB spokesperson told the NZ Herald the rationale for closing Abdollahi's banking relationship with TSB was "the potential that a TSB account might receive funds from Iran", which international sanctions prevent.
"His Iranian descent was not the reason for which the account was closed."
The bank later admitted there was no evidence that he planned to bring funds into the country.
A TSB spokesperson later told Newshub the bank undertakes due diligence due to obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act (AML/CFT Act).
"As well as this, New Zealand is a member of the Financial Actions Taskforce (FATF) which issues a list of high-risk jurisdictions from a money laundering perspective. TSB conducts customer due diligence, and monitors and examines business relationships and transactions involving these countries. Iran is on the FATF list of high-risk jurisdictions.
"TSB will always undertake a risk assessment on a customer and according to the level of risk involved, may be required to do enhanced customer due diligence, this includes obtaining and verifying source of wealth or source of funds. Each situation is different and takes an individualised conversation with the customer to establish the specific information we require."
Abdollahi told the NZ Herald he is now planning on taking legal action against TSB and filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.
"If we keep quiet they will not learn," he said.
The spokesperson said if the steps outlined above can't be completed, the company will close an account.
