June 1 (Bloomberg) — From their offices atop Tehran’s 15- story Sayeh Tower, HSBC Holdings Plc bankers have helped lend more than $825 million to the Iranian government, which the U.S. says sponsors terrorism and provided a haven to al-Qaeda members after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. HSBC is doing business in other countries that the U.S. says sponsor terrorism, including Libya, Sudan and Syria, through direct and indirect ties, according to bank documents and interviews with executives. HSBC also banked for the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, according to a Central Intelligence Agency report published in October 2004.
As the U.S. wages a war on terror, financial services companies are collecting deposits and fees in the U.S. while lending money in countries the U.S. says sponsor terror. An increasing number of state and city officials and pension fund managers are pressuring the companies to stop.
“You are feeding that terrorism pipeline,” says New York City Comptroller William Thompson Jr., who manages more than $80 billion in pension funds, including money for city firefighters and police officers, 366 of whom died in the Sept. 11 attacks. “You’re enabling the government to be able to funnel dollars to terrorism,” says Thompson, 51, who administers funds holding $100 million in HSBC stock.
“There is pressure for change” said US based Household - HSBC Watch. “No longer can we sit back while holding companies and subsidiaries make this process legal” said the group. “Cities and states wil lead the movement and it will be felt at corporate levels.”
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