Past lawsuits
Several civil lawsuits were filed against the bank in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn under the Anti-Terrorism Act and Alien Tort Statute in 2004,[31][32] all of which resulted in decisions in favor of the bank.[33] In these cases, U.S. and non-U.S. plaintiffs alleged they or their family members were harmed by acts of terrorism that occurred in Israel or the West Bank/Gaza from 1995 to 2005. They alleged that the bank held accounts for individuals and organizations that, in turn, supported terrorist activities. Similar cases were brought against UBS, Credit Lyonnais, Bank of China, American Express Bank, National Westminster Bank and Commerzbank.[34]
On 9 February 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned a liability verdict in the case of Linde v. Arab Bank Plc in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).[35] The verdict overturned from 22 September 2014 after 30 days of trial and two days of jury deliberation, found the bank liable for knowingly supporting terrorism relating to 24 different terrorist acts.[36][37] The Second Circuit found that the District Court erred in failing to provide the jury with adequate instructions during the court proceedings.[6] In 2015, the bank reached a settlement with 597 victims or the relatives of victims of 22 Hamas attacks between 2001 and 2004 in Israel.[38]
In 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York dismissed Jesner v. Arab Bank, a case filed by 6,000 foreign citizens injured in Israel during the Second Intifada under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS),[39] ruling that corporations are not proper defendants in ATS suits.[40] The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously affirmed this dismissal in December 2015.[41] In April 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States granted the plaintiffs' petition to hear the case, Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC.[42] Oral arguments before the Supreme Court were held in October 2017, and on 24 April 2018, the Court affirmed the dismissal of all claims against the bank, finding that foreign corporations are not proper defendants in cases brought under the ATS.[43]
On 6 November 2012, a U.S. judge dismissed a civil litigation action brought by Israeli resident Mati Gill under the Anti-Terrorism Act for injuries he sustained in an alleged terrorist attack in Israel in 2008.[44][45]
In 2005, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network assessed a $24 million penalty against the New York Branch of Arab Bank for failing to implement an adequate anti–money laundering program to manage the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, and violating the suspicious activity reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act.[46] Arab Bank was also no longer allowed to process US dollar payments.[38] On 1 October 2018, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency terminated this consent order.[47]
On 26 February 2004 the Israel Defense Forces confiscated funds from Arab Bank's and Cairo-Amman Bank's Ramallah branch in connection with an investigation into whether certain account holders were supporting terrorism.[48] In September 2009, the IDF issued a letter to Arab Bank stating that it had no evidence that the bank or any of its directors or employees were involved in or funded terrorist activities.[48]
In 2019, over 1,132 Israeli victims of terrorism and families of Israelis murdered in terrorist attacks filed a $5.8 billion lawsuit against Arab Bank, claiming that the bank cooperated with, supported, assisted, funded, and encouraged terrorist actions that resulted in thousands of casualties and wounded.[49]
