UBS has declined a request by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to open a bank account in Switzerland, while Goldman Sachs has not set up a Swiss account for GHF after initial talks, two people with knowledge of the discussions tell Reuters.

GHF had sought to open a bank account for a unit based in Geneva to help facilitate donations from outside the United States, two other people with knowledge of its plans said.

The foundation started talks with lawyers and banks, including UBS and Goldman, last autumn about the Swiss entity’s structure, before deciding to withdraw from Switzerland in May, they said. The two people declined to say which other banks GHF had engaged with, and Reuters could not establish that information independently.

GHF did not respond to questions about whether it had spoken to other banks.

A GHF spokesperson told Reuters by email that the decision to withdraw from Switzerland was not because of any setbacks, adding: “It was a strategic decision to be located in the US.”

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