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NatWest Bank freezes RT UK accounts

October 18, 2016

RT says the entire Royal Bank of Scotland Group, of which NatWest is part, was refusing to service the broadcaster. It says NatWest wrote to its London office: “We have recently undertaken a review of your banking arrangements with us and reached the conclusion that we will no longer provide these facilities.”

The bank, RT said, had insisted its decision was final and it was “not prepared to enter into any discussion.”

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,” according to BBC News.

Zheleznyak, who sits on the international affairs committee of the State Duma, called NatWest’s refusal to offer its banking services “outrageous” and “an infringement of the rights of journalists”.

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