NZ Loyal is now completely de-banked, following unprecedented obstruction from the banking industry toward the political party.
Since 2024, the NZ Loyal board has been applying to open an official bank account for the party. In most cases banks have taken weeks or months to process the application before ultimately rejecting it under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. NZ Loyal has been completely de-banked by ASB, Kiwibank and NBS. Co-op and SBS were also unable to proceed with our application.
According to the banks, political parties and Politically Exposed Persons are a risk for money laundering and financing of terrorism. Without a shred of evidence, banks can now imply a criminal risk exists simply because they disagree with their customer’s political opinions. They now have the power to undermine a political party’s ability to collect the membership payments required to register in the next election!
This matter is being referred to the Banking Ombudsman for urgent consideration. There is a very real possibility that NZ Loyal, a political party in a democratic society, may be completely forbidden from holding a bank account in New Zealand altogether. This has a chilling effect on democracy, which could disenfranchise over 34,000 Kiwi’s who voted for us in 2023.
