The Don’t Buy into Occupation (DBIO) coalition and BankTrack welcome the publication of a landmark report by the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, which directly calls on European financial institutions to stop funding and normalizing Israel’s military occupation, apartheid, and genocide against the Palestinian people.

The report, released this week, represents a watershed moment in the push for corporate accountability. Drawing on research from DBIO and BankTrack, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories identifies financial institutions, including commercial banks, as enablers of Israel’s “displacement-replacement economy” in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), with banks, pension funds and asset managers continuing to underwrite and bankroll occupation and genocide. The Special Rapporteur warns that financial institutions and their executives could face criminal prosecution, including before the International Criminal Court (ICC), for enabling violations of international law.

"This report is a global wake-up call," said DBIO member Piet Ruig from FairFin. "It not only further validates years of our work but escalates the legal and moral urgency: European financial institutions are complicit and they may be criminally liable under international law."

The financial institutions profiting from illegal occupation 

The report explicitly names several financial institutions previously highlighted in DBIO’s reports. Among them is BNP Paribas, which continues to finance arms companies supplying the Israeli army. Also mentioned is Barclays, one of Europe’s largest banks, which remains invested in military technology suppliers whose equipment has been used in airstrikes on Gaza and in surveillance of Palestinian civilians. The report cites research from Profundo, published by BankTrack and PAX, to show how these and other banks played a critical role in supporting Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza by underwriting Israeli treasury bonds.

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, often cited as a model of ethical investment, is identified for holding shares in corporations tied to the occupation infrastructure. AXA, the French insurance giant, is also called out for maintaining financial relationships with companies complicit in apartheid policies, home demolitions, and population control systems.

“Despite repeated warnings from civil society organisations, legal experts and international authorities on human rights, these institutions have failed to undertake adequate human rights due diligence and continue to profit from illegal occupation and violence. That might change with the publication of this report,” said Mette Nord, President at Fagforbundet, the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees. 

A milestone for accountability 

The Special Rapporteur’s report dispels any confusion about the degree of corporate culpability/complicity, making clear that the financial sector’s unchecked involvement has directly fuelled the escalation of violence. The report explicitly emphasises that “had proper human rights due diligence been undertaken, corporate entities would have long ago disengaged from Israeli occupation.”

She makes it clear that commercial actors and executives can no longer hide behind layers of abstraction or claim ignorance, stating that “recent judicial developments leave no room for doubt that corporate engagement with any component of the occupation is connected with violations of jus cogens norms and international crimes.”

This report – amid growing calls for corporate accountability internationally — is an official confirmation that corporate involvement in Israel’s crimes should never be dismissed as business as usual.

Time to divest 

BankTrack and DBIO coalition fully endorse the report’s strong recommendations for corporate entities including banks to face accountability for their involvement in serious violations of international law, as well as to cease all business activities and terminate relationships directly linked with, contributing to, and causing human rights violations against the Palestinian people.

The DBIO coalition calls on all European banks, pension funds, and asset managers to immediately disclose their investment portfolios and to divest from all companies complicit in the occupation and genocide of the Palestinian people. We also call on European governments and regulatory bodies to implement binding legal frameworks to stop both public and private funds from supporting violations of international law.

“This report leaves no doubts: banks have a moral and legal obligation to divest and cut all ties with Israel’s machinery of occupation and genocide. Every day that banks continue to finance complicit companies, they are not just risking reputational damage, but are exposing themselves to legal accountability for international crimes” said Giulia Barbos, human rights campaigner at BankTrack.