Queen
Maxima Talks
Remittances,
ICP Asks of
Somalia,
Barclays &
Westpac
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, June
5 -- Financial
inclusion was
the topic on
June 5 when
Queen Maxima
of the
Netherlands
held a press
conference at
the UN, for
which she's
the the
“Special
Advocate for
Inclusive
Finance for
Development.”
Inner
City Press
asked Queen
Maxima what
she has done
on the issue
of banks like
Barclays and
Westpac
cutting of
remittances to
Somalia. Video
here.
Queen Maxima,
who had cited
remittances in
her opening
statement,
replied among
other things
that banks
take a
“risk-based
approach,” and
that the
smaller
profits they
make on
remittances
make them cut
them
off.
It is
on just this
type of
thinking, we'd
say, that this
UN office
ought to be
raising its
voice, for
example in the
case of
Westpac, which
is a member of
the UN Global
Compact.
Inner
City Press
also asked
Queen Maxima
if UN agencies
like UNRWA and
UNHCR are
working on the
issue of the
unbanked,
trying to
ensure that
the payments
they make help
recipients to
establish bank
accounts. This
too is unclear
- the answer
was that the
UN is studying
this, is
producing
knowlege. It
will be good
to produce
results. We
will stay on
this. Follow @innercitypressFollow @FUNCA_info
, 
