A group of Conservatives and finance experts have urged the chancellor to investigate the banking regulator over the UK’s debanking scandal.
In a strongly worded letter sent to Jeremy Hunt on Monday, the prominent group accused the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of attempting to force a “change in culture and diversity of thought” in banks and finance firms.
The intervention comes as former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, whose bank account was shut down by Coutts over his political views, launched his own website to take on the banks closing customer accounts.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr. Farage claimed to be in possession of information that shows that around 1,000 accounts are being closed a day by firms using similar in-house rules.
Signatories of the letter sent to Mr. Hunt said the vagueness of the FCA’s own rules is having “a chilling effect on entrepreneurialism and productivity” following the recent Coutts fiasco.
The letter, seen by The Epoch Times, said a Treasury investigation was needed to “restore integrity” in the banking and financial system.
“The situation is now such that the regulators are making day-to-day choices on matters which go far beyond financial regulation—the need to ensure orderly markets, to protect consumers and to manage systemic risk. The regulators’ role needs to be confined to their proper jurisdiction, and they must be properly overseen,” it said.
FCA Disquiet
The signatories include former Conservative party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Tory MP Danny Kruger, who sits on the Commons Treasury Committee, former Nationwide deputy CEO Professor Daniel Hodson, and Baroness Noakes, the former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a non-executive director of the Bank of England.The authors also raise the FCA’s encouragement of what is known as “environmental, social, and governance,” or “ESG”, which encourages companies to act responsibly.
They wrote: “The situation is particularly acute because the FCA has been actively pursuing an approach which involves forcing a change in culture and diversity of thought in banks and other financial firms. It has also played an active role in forcing through ESG changes, where the precise scope, meaning and application of ‘environmental,' ‘social’ and ‘governance’ is arguable, to say the least. “It appears that the FCA has been making and applying vague rules, including those known as ‘Principles,’ which are open to varied interpretation.
“There is little or no recourse to the courts or case law precedent.”
The Epoch Times approached the FCA for comment on the claims but did not receive a response.
The signatories also referred to an FCA source, quoted in The Guardian, saying there was “a real sense of disquiet” inside the regulator at the departure of Dame Alison Rose.
Ms. Rose quit as chief executive of NatWest Group earlier this month after admitting to briefing a BBC journalist on details surrounding one of Mr. Farage’s bank accounts.
Private bank Coutts, which is part of NatWest, closed the former Ukip leader’s account, with a subject access request revealing his political views were a factor in the decision.
Farage Campaign
On Sunday, Mr. Farage said hopes to “build a powerful lobby group” to oppose debanking as he launched a new website to campaign on behalf of people whose accounts have been shut.The former MEP told GB News, where he works as a presenter, that “every option is on the table” with regard to taking legal action against NatWest after it shared his personal information.
He told the broadcaster: “Nobody with profile who has been debanked has come forward. Two reasons: one, a sense of shame, humiliation and embarrassment, but, secondly, it would damage their prospects of getting any other bank account.
“But what I’ve learnt is this—it isn’t just high-profile people with strong opinions that are being closed down by banks that have become completely politicised in the most extraordinary way. What I’ve learned in the three weeks since I came out, as it were … I’ve just been inundated by small businesses, by folk all round the country. People in absolute fear, terror, lives being ruined, thousands of businesses being closed.
“These are people who have done nothing wrong whatsoever.”
It came as the Mail on Sunday reported that the number of bank accounts closed has risen in recent years from under 50,000 in 2016 to almost 350,000 last year.
The paper said it obtained the figures through a Freedom of Information request to the FCA watchdog.
1,000 Accounts Closed a Day
Mr. Farage’s crusade against NatWest has also led to the resignation of Coutts boss Peter Flavel. His campaign on account closures has received the backing of ministers and Tory MPs.NatWest chairman Sir Howard Davies has resisted pressure from Mr Farage and others to quit, insisting it is important for the bank’s stability that he remains on the board.
On Friday, City minister Andrew Griffith, who led the government response to the issue, said Sir Howard should remain in post.
Mr Farage added: “I want this to be a turning point in this whole appalling behaviour from banks. Whether it’s high-profile figures or people running a fish stall, what has happened within this industry is wrong. “It’s become, frankly, self-serving in its own interests. It’s damaging Britain and I want real change.”
He also told GB News that around 1,000 bank accounts are being closed a day.
“There are tens of thousands of people out there, maybe more, who are being wronged by the banks whose lives have been ruined, they have had no-one to speak for them.
“They’ve been suffering in silence and that’s why I’ve launched this website today–accountclosed.org. If you’ve been closed down, if you’ve been suspended, then come and tell me who you are, help me to help you.”
Former prime minister Liz Truss has also backed Mr. Farage, writing in The Sunday Telegraph that “heads have rightly rolled” in the wake of the row.
Andrew Griffith, the city minister, and James Cartlidge, the defence minister, argued it was “perverse” for investors to be either deliberately discriminating against defence and security companies, or adopting a “broad-brush” approach to ethical investing, at a time when British aid has been crucial in Ukraine.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, the ministers said, “Peace needs defence, and defence needs an industrial base.”
They added, “There is a troubling misunderstanding within investor preferences and the defence sector–which includes firms such as BAE Systems, Babcock and QinetiQ–that risks starving the industry of capital at competitive valuations.”
