Sources say UBS, Goldman Sachs refused GHF requests to set up Swiss accounts

LONDON/GENEVA — UBS declined a request by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to open a bank account in Switzerland, while Goldman Sachs did not set up a Swiss account for GHF after initial talks, two people with knowledge of the discussions tell Reuters.

GHF is a US- and Israeli-backed organization that began delivering humanitarian supplies to Palestinian civilians in Gaza in May, bypassing traditional aid channels, including the United Nations.

GHF had sought to open a bank account for a unit based in Geneva to help facilitate donations from outside the United States, two other people with knowledge of its plans say.

The foundation started talks with lawyers and banks, including UBS and Goldman, last autumn about the Swiss entity’s structure, before deciding to withdraw from Switzerland in May, they say.

The two people decline to say which other banks GHF had engaged with, and Reuters cannot establish that information independently. GHF did not respond to questions about whether it had spoken to other banks.

According to two of the people, the foundation’s plans for a Geneva branch faced setbacks, including a lack of donations and resignations of founding members, including GHF executive director Jake Wood, as well as difficulties opening a Swiss bank account.

A GHF spokesperson tells Reuters by email that the decision to withdraw from Switzerland was not because of any setbacks, adding: “It was a strategic decision to be located in the US.”

One stumbling block in talks with banks was a lack of transparency about where the foundation’s funds would come from, one of the people with knowledge of the discussions tells Reuters. Before accepting clients, banks must conduct due diligence to establish their identities and ownership, the nature of their business activities, and their sources of wealth.

GHF has not disclosed details of its finances. A GHF spokesperson says it has “spoken about initial funding from Europe, but we don’t disclose donors for their privacy.”