The Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) in the UK has announced its withdrawal of all assets from HSBC after the international bank would not take a tough line against violent animal-rights protestors who continue to threaten the Cambridgeshire-based preclinical testing company, Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS).

The AMRC has 112 member charities whose combined expenditure on research in the UK amounted to £540 million ($768 million) in 1999/2000. AMRC chief executive, Diana Garnham, told Nature Medicine, “This is not just an issue for Huntingdon but for everyone involved in medical research—all scientists and pharmaceutical companies. We are no longer confident with HSBC's support.”

HSBC refused to handle shares in HLS this year following threats from vivisectionists, in particular a group called Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC). Garnham wrote to HSBC in January questioning the bank's actions and requested support for her organization if they were similarly threatened. But after an “unsatisfactory response” she believes the bank is too high a risk for the AMRC. Meanwhile, HLS share price has fallen by 76% in the past year and the company is now valued at £7 million. Protests against HLS—Britain's largest animal-research contractors—have ranged from legal demonstrations to letter bombs by anonymous extremists, targeting employees over the past 16 months.

HSBC is one of several financial backers to have shied away from HLS because of violent threats against employees and shareholders. Others include Merrill Lynch, West LB Panmure, Credit Suisse First Boston, Winterflood Securities, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Barclays and internet brokers Charles Schwab Europe. And last month, SHAC members occupied the first floor of the Bank of New York Company's offices in London in protest of the Bank's support for HLS.

The AMRC is currently searching for another bank and is considering advising member charities to also seek new accounts. It is believed the Wellcome Trust, an AMRC member organization, will also withdraw its support from HSBC.