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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

NatWest [wikipedia.org], a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, will refuse service to RT [bbc.com]:

NatWest bank has frozen the accounts of Russia's state-run broadcaster RT, its editor-in-chief says. Margarita Simonyan tweeted [twitter.com]: "They've closed our accounts in Britain. All our accounts. 'The decision is not subject to review.' Praise be to freedom of speech!"

An MP from Russia's ruling party has said the country's Parliament will "demand an explanation" from the UK. RT says the bank gave no explanation for its decision. It said the entire Royal Bank of Scotland Group, of which NatWest is part, was refusing to service RT.

[...] A letter posted online by the channel appears to show that the freeze is not in effect yet. It warns that banking facilities will be "cancelled and closed" on 12 December. MP Sergei Zheleznyak, from the ruling "United Russia" party, told the privately-owned Interfax news agency: "We will be demanding an explanation from Britain's official authorities in connection with this situation." [...] A member of the Russian parliament's upper house, Igor Morozov, has called for the BBC's bank accounts in Russia to be "arrested" as a reprisal. RT chief Ms Simonyan said the closure included the personal accounts of some senior staff working in the UK.

Unnamed sources in the British Treasury denied involvement [theguardian.com] and said the decision was made by NatWest itself. The Prime Minister Theresa May's office told reporters [reuters.com] that "It's a matter for the bank and it's for them to decide who they offer services to based on their own risk appetite".

Also at RT [rt.com], Bloomberg [bloomberg.com].

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