Deutsche Bank bans staff from Dorchester hotels after Brunei implements homosexuality laws

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank has banned its staff from staying in hotels of the Brunei-owned Dorchester Collection, following the Sultanate's decision to implement Islamic laws that would allow death by stoning for adultery and homosexuality.

(Reuters)

"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," Deutsche Bank's Chief Risk Officer Stuart Lewis said in a statement.

Brunei's state-owned investment agency BIA owns the Dorchester Collection hotel group, which features luxury venues such as The Dorchester, The Beverly Hills Hotel, Principe di Savoia and Hotel Bel-Air.

Deutsche Bank was one of the co-founders of the Partnership for Global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Inter and Queer (LGBTIQ) Equality consortium.

On Wednesday, the United Nations said that Brunei was violating human rights by implementing Sharia laws, which punish sodomy, adultery and rape with the death penalty - including by stoning, and theft with amputation.

(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)