wow is that article a lot of nothing
tl;dr: Sparkasse as a state bank has to take every customer to provide basic banking services, especially for people (like extremist parties) who are rejected by every other bank
Yeah, it would be fucked up if a legal party could be shut down because all banks refuse to do business with them. The real isssue here is that the German executive refuses to let the courts make far right parties illegal. Freie Sachsen probably should be illegal, but that’s not for banks to decide.
All consumers legally residing in the European Union are entitled to hold a basic payment account under the German Payment Accounts Act (Zahlungskontengesetz – ZKG). This includes persons without a permanent place of residence and asylum seekers. Persons without a residence permit who cannot be deported due to legal or factual reasons (persons with a suspension of deportation) are also entitled to hold such an account.
Source: BaFin - German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority
The German law is based on the European Commission Recommendation 2011/442/EU of 18 July 2011 on access to a basic payment account. All EU members followed this recommendation, meaning that all individuals in the EU have a legal right to a basic bank account, even if unemployed or homeless.
In many cases the reality is different. They just never get back to you.
Is a political party a “consumer” in the context of this law?
Gross. I can’t believe they’re forced to have a customer that wants to at least deport the staff.
I disagree. That’s the foundation of a democracy: as long as you’re not doing something illegal you should be able to … Well … exist.
The bank in question is a state owned one - they simply aren’t allowed to do a second layer legal system.
Now that this organization is legal is the big fuckup, but that’s not the banks fault.
I agree with you. I think the root of the issue is that a group like that could get this far.
Paywall? Paywall!
Well, that’s why I added the archive link :P
whoops, sorry, for some reason I didn’t see it on Desktop :/
