Treatment of Farage ‘ought to jeopardise’ bank’s licence, senior Tory says
The Prime Minister has vowed to ‘crack down’ on banks closing accounts of people deemed to be ‘politically exposed’.
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Your support makes all the difference.Senior Conservative MPs have piled pressure on Coutts and its owner NatWest after the private bank reportedly closed Nigel Farage’s account because his views do “not align with our values”.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the decision “completely undermines the trust we have in our banking and financial systems”.
Former Brexit secretary David Davis said it amounted to “thinly veiled political discrimination” and called it a “vindictive, irresponsible and undemocratic action”.
Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) on Wednesday, Mr Davis accused Coutts of lying about the “commercial viability” of Mr Farage’s account in anonymous briefings to the BBC and said the disclosure of private information “ought to jeopardise its banking licence”.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, also called for an inquiry into what happened to the Coutts bank account formerly held by Mr Farage, the former Brexit Party and UK Independence Party (Ukip) leader.
The Financial Conduct Authority said it would discuss the situation with NatWest.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to use new measures to “crackdown” on banks refusing to work with those deemed to be a politically exposed person (PEP).
Addressing questions in the Commons, Mr Sunak said his administration will be “toughening the rules around account closures” following a consultation.
The Conservative Party leader said it “wouldn’t be right” for financial services to be denied to those expressing lawful free speech.
During a later visit to Warwickshire, Mr Sunak, asked whether he would look to hold talks with NatWest about Mr Farage’s situation, said he “wouldn’t comment on any particular case”.
Mr Sunak’s press secretary, fielding questions from reporters after PMQs, said it would be “incredibly concerning and wrong” if Mr Farage’s account was closed due to his political opinions.
“No-one should be barred from bank services for their political views,” she said.
Ahead of the calls for intervention in Parliament, Tory Cabinet ministers spoke out against the way Mr Farage has been treated.
Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps said the financial institution’s decision was “absolutely disgraceful” while Home Secretary Suella Braverman called the situation a “scandal”.
She tweeted: “NatWest and other corporates who have naively adopted this politically biased dogma need a major rethink.”
City minister Andrew Griffith spoke of “serious concern”, saying banks are duty bound by their licence to allow someone they disagree with to be a customer.
Eurosceptic Mr Farage has obtained a 40-page dossier from Coutts, using a subject access request, to gain information about the decision to shut his account.
According to the Mail Online, the publication the politician-turned-broadcaster has handed the documents to, the bank cited his retweet of a Ricky Gervais joke about trans women and his friendship with tennis player Novak Djokovic, who is opposed to Covid vaccinations, to flag concerns that Mr Farage is “xenophobic and racist”.
It also took issue with his defence of former US president Donald Trump’s behaviour and Mr Farage’s comments criticising the UK Government’s policy of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The minutes of a meeting of Coutts’s Wealth Reputational Risk Committee, dated November 17 2022, said: “The committee did not think continuing to bank NF was compatible with Coutts given his publicly-stated views that were at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation.”
The documents suggest Coutts knew Mr Farage was likely to use his public platform, particularly as a GB News presenter, to air any grievances about his account being closed as it committed to reviewing his comments in the media and financial activity annually.
In undated comments, the bank said: “It is acknowledged that many of the behaviours demonstrated by NF do not align with our values and that there are reputational risks to the bank being associated with him.”
Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Farage said his experience has left him fearing the UK is moving towards a “Chinese-style social credit system” where only those with “acceptable views” can participate in society.
“I am effectively de-banked. How do I pay my gas bill? What have I done wrong? I haven’t broken the law,” he said.
The BBC, citing “people familiar with Coutts’s move”, previously suggested that anti-European Union campaigner Mr Farage fell below the financial threshold needed to have a Coutts account.
Coutts requires its customers to borrow or invest at least £1 million or save at least £3 million, according to an eligibility questionnaire on its website.
But, according to the files handed by Mr Farage to the Mail Online, officials said closing his accounts could not be justified on the basis of his wealth as his “economic contribution” was “sufficient to retain on a commercial basis”.
Mr Davis, a Brexit-backing MP and former cabinet minister, told the Commons: “NatWest disclosed confidential details about Farage’s account to the BBC and lied about the commercial viability of his account, actions which ought to jeopardise its banking licence and should certainly worry NatWest’s 19 million other customers.”
He called on all British banks to be forced to declare to the Treasury when they have closed an account for non-commercial reasons.
A Coutts spokeswoman said: “Our ability to respond is restricted by our obligations of client confidentiality.
“Decisions to close accounts are not taken lightly and take into account a number of factors including commercial viability, reputational considerations and legal and regulatory requirements.
“As the client has previously confirmed, alternative banking arrangements have been offered within the wider group.”
Financial Conduct Authority chief executive Nikhil Rathi told MPs: “You’d expect that we are talking to NatWest Group about this.
“A specific adjudication on an individual case is a matter for the Financial Ombudsman Service.”
He told the Treasury Select Committee: “If a complaint is made and it is determined that there has not been an appropriate consideration of this case, that would then of course be relevant for us from a supervisory perspective.”