Wall Street banks boycott Brunei-owned hotels after kingdom makes homosexuality punishable by death

A growing list of multinational banks are banning employees from staying at hotels owned by the sultan of Brunei, where homosexuality and adultery is punishable by death.

J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and others — called to task by celebrities such as Elton John, George Clooney and Ellen DeGeneres — have barred staff from staying at properties owned by the Dorchester Collection hotel group, run by the Brunei state-owned investment agency.

The ban includes luxury names such as Los Angeles’ Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air, and London’s Dorchester and 45 Park Lane.

The news was first reported by the Financial Times. A spokesperson for J.P. Morgan confirmed the report to CNBC but declined to comment further.

Deutsche Bank announced its boycott of Brunei-owned properties in early April as a sign of support for LGBTQ rights. Goldman Sachs and Bank of America have confirmed to CNBC that they are no longer using the Dorchester Group. CitiGroup, Jefferies, Morgan Stanley and Nomura have also banned employees from staying at nine luxury hotels owned by the small Southeast Asian nation, according to Financial News Network.

“The new laws introduced by Brunei breach the most basic human rights, and we believe it is our duty as a firm to take action against them,” Stuart Lewis, chief risk officer and member of the management board at Deutsche Bank, said in a statement. “We are proud to support LGBTIQ rights around the world, and as part of this we regularly review our business partnerships to ensure that they are aligned with this principle.”

Earlier this month, Brunei introduced laws that make gay sex punishable by death by stoning. Adultery, rape, sodomy, extramarital sexual relations for Muslims, robbery, and insult or defamation of the Prophet Muhammad are also banned — and prosecuted the same way. Homosexuality has always been illegal in the small, oil-rich nation, but the new, stricter Islamic laws introduce the death penalty as punishment.

In response to the boycotts, the Dorchester Collection said in a statement that they “understand people’s anger and frustration but this is a political and religious issue that we don’t believe should be played out in our hotels and amongst our 3,630 employees.”

Singer Elton John and George Clooney have called for corporate boycotts. In a column published in Deadline last month, Clooney said, while you can’t shame “murderous regimes,” you can “shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.”

The United Nations has also condemned the laws. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called them cruel and inhumane punishments that breach international human rights law.

According to Amnesty International, gay sex is a crime in 72 countries and punishable by death in eight, including Saudi Arabia.

Still, in a recent interview Brunei’s billionaire leader, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who has an estimated $20 billion fortune, called for “stronger” Islamic teachings in the country, according to French news agency AFP.

The sultan has been in power since 1967.

Source: CNBC, Ryan Ruggiero and Donovan Russo, and Holly Ellyatt, April 29, 2019

⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

William Thompson Faces Execution in Florida Amid Dementia, Terminal Illness Concerns

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an execution warrant for 74-year-old prisoner William “Bill” Thompson less than 24 hours after he was released from the hospital to the hospice wing of the prison. After his attorneys raised serious concerns about his mental competency and deteriorating physical health, Gov. DeSantis agreed to temporarily stay the execution so Mr. Thompson’s competency can be evaluated on October 1. If he is found competent, his execution remains scheduled for October 13.

Texas executes Ker’Sean Ramey

Texas executes man for a triple killing, days after other man convicted in case was put to death A man was executed Wednesday evening in Texas for a triple killing committed during an attempted robbery at a rural home, 1 week after the other man convicted in the case was put to death. Ker’Sean Ramey, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. CDT following a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was the 6th person executed this year in Texas, with 3 more lethal injections scheduled in the state over the next 2 months.

Texas House chairman wants child rapists eligible for death penalty

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Under current Supreme Court precedent, states cannot execute someone for raping a child if the victim survives. That’s not stopping State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-McKinney. “We’re going to have a debate in this building behind me about the death penalty being on the table for any Texan who rapes a child,” Leach, the chair of the Texas House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, said. Leach made the comments while hosting a news conference supporting his client, abuse survivor Cindy Clemishire.

Israel | Ben Gvir discusses death penalty for Neveh Tzuf terrorist hours before Yom Kippur

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir raised the possibility of applying the death penalty to the Neveh Tzuf terrorist during a security meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Two hours before the start of Yom Kippur on Sunday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir raised the possibility of applying the death penalty to the terrorist responsible for the attack in Neveh Tzuf during a security meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu had reportedly convened the meeting in response to the security situation in the West Bank following the Sunday terror attack.

Texas set to execute second man convicted in 2005 South Texas triple murder

Ker’Sean Olajuwa Ramey is scheduled to die Wednesday, one week after the state executed his co-defendant for the same killings. Texas is scheduled to execute a man on Wednesday for the 2005 shooting deaths of three people during a botched robbery in a small South Texas town, just one week after the state put his co-defendant to death for the same crime. Ker’Sean Olajuwa Ramey, 41, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.

Tennessee Supreme Court denies stay for death row inmate Christa Pike

(TNND) — As Tennessee prepares for a Sept. 30 execution, the Tennessee Supreme Court has denied death row inmate Christa Gail Pike’s request to stop it. The court rejected Pike’s challenge to the state’s lethal-injection protocol, finding that her thrombocytosis diagnosis, a condition involving elevated blood platelets, did not show the execution would violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Florida | Tomasz Kosowski found guilty of murder after representing himself in death penalty case

Tomasz Kosowski sat each day alone at the defense table, wearing orange jail garb and rubber sandals with socks. In a rare and largely unprecedented move for a death penalty case, Kosowski represented himself, waiving his right to a jury trial and allowing a judge in Pinellas County, Florida, to decide his fate. Prosecutors presented the state’s case over six days, laying out for the judge how the former plastic surgeon accosted Steven Cozzi in the bathroom of his law office on a Tuesday morning, and Cozzi was never seen again.

Philippines | President Marcos Grants Absolute Pardon to Mary Jane Veloso

President Marcos Confirms Decision to Grant Absolute Pardon to Mary Jane Veloso President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed an absolute pardon for Mary Jane Veloso after more than a decade. On Friday (September 25, 2026), the President confirmed the decision during a visit to Guiuan, Eastern Samar. According to him, the pardon was officially signed the previous day, marking a major development in the case.

Tennessee | Christa Pike Requests Clemency Ahead of September 30 Execution Date; Experts’ Amicus Brief Points to ‘Substantial Risk’ of Re-traumatization

Lawyers for Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, filed a 226-page clemency petition with Governor Bill Lee, asking him to commute her death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole ahead of her September 30 execution date. Ms. Pike’s clemency petition outlines the case her team has built over decades of appeals: her actions at 18 years old cannot be separated from a childhood marked by repeated rape, sexual abuse, and neglect that went unaddressed by the adults and state systems meant to protect her. Once incarcerated, Ms. Pike was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Singapore | Ministry of Home Affairs refutes claims that death penalty was discussed during visit by Israel's security ministry

The Ministry of Home Affairs says discussions with the Israeli government involved the sharing of best practices in emergency response, crime prevention, and forensics. Issues relating to the death penalty “were never part of the meeting and were not discussed." SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday (Sep 11) refuted claims by an Israeli media outlet that the death penalty was discussed during a visit by an Israeli delegation in May. The Haaretz newspaper reported on Sep 7 that a delegation comprising representatives from the Israel Prison Service and National Security Ministry made a “secret visit” to Singapore that month.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog