Jordan’s Arab Bank Plc has agreed to an out-of-court settlement with 500 U.S. citizens in a lawsuit charging the bank with fiscal liability for Hamas terrorist attacks during the second intifada.
The bank was set to face the start of a trial on Monday with 17 plaintiffs that was to determine the potential amount of total financial damages to be paid, an amount that could have reached millions of dollars.
Michael Eisner, attorney for the plaintiffs, confirmed the settlement on Friday, as did a spokesperson for the Arab Bank. Neither disclosed the terms of the agreement, which are to be finalized over the next few months.
The Arab Bank was accused of knowingly maintaining accounts for Hamas operatives and facilitating payments to families of suicide bombers and those imprisoned or injured during the second intifada, beginning in 2000.
Arab Bank argued it had properly screened account holders and transactions against lists of designated terrorist organizations.
In September 2014 a jury in federal district court in Brooklyn, New York found the bank liable under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act for 24 terror attacks carried out by Hamas terrorists more than a decade ago in and around Israel.
The Bank of China, Credit Lyonnais SA, HSBC Holdings Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, among others, are all facing similar claims.