Chinese activist Ai Weiwei says Credit Suisse closing his foundation's bank account

Chinese dissident and artist Ai Weiwei has said Credit Suisse told him it was closing his foundation's bank account in Switzerland earlier this year citing his "criminal record" in China, despite the activist never being convicted of a crime.

One of China's most high-profile artists and political activists, Ai, who now lives in Portugal, wrote in an opinion piece for website Artnet how he was first told by the Swiss bank that it would close the account in the spring of this year. "They (Credit Suisse) did this, they wrote, in accordance with a new policy of closing all accounts with people who have had criminal records," he said.