JPMorgan Chase has come under fire by civil rights groups for abruptly closing a business account for an Arabic language business, without explanation.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations-Michigan (CAIR-MI) is asking the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which is a division of the U.S. Department of Treasury, to investigate JPMorgan for closing the account of Alif Arabic, an online business that teaches Arabic to non-Arabic speaking citizens.

According to Alif Arabic, their business was notified by JPMorgan in a letter, dated May 30, that their account would be terminated within 10 business days, without detailing the reasons for the action. When an Alif Arabic affiliate requested clarification from the bank, they were told that an analytical tool had alerted them that the account “could pose a possible risk.”

Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR–MI, believes that the move by the bank could suggest discrimination, based on religion and ethnicity, and he is urging the Department of Treasury to take action immediately. 

Earlier this year, the Arab-American Civil Rights League (ACRL) also asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate complaints made by local Arab American and Muslim individuals whose accounts were closed by various banking institutions, including Huntington Chase and Flag Star, without explanation. The ACRL had even established a hotline for individuals to report similar cases.

ACRL says that they now plan to file a lawsuit against numerous banks, as they have retained information related to over 50 cases of banks closing accounts for Arab Americans. 

JPMorgan told the Detroit News last week that “on occasion, Chase determines it can no longer maintain a customer’s account, but those decisions are not based on the customer’s religion, ethnicity, or any other similar basis.”