Watchdog Report Says No Firms Closed Banks Accounts Due to ‘Political Views’

Richard Tice (R) listens as Nigel Farage speaks during the launch of the Brexit Party at BG Penny & Co, in Coventry, England, on April 12, 2019. Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

A review by the financial regulator said that no banks reported that they had closed accounts primarily due to someone’s political views.

On Tuesday, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the evidence it has gathered “suggests that no firm closed an account between July 2022 and June 2023 primarily because of a customer’s political views.”

It said that “by far” the most common reasons providers gave for closing, suspending, or declining an account were “because it was inactive/dormant or because there were concerns about financial crime.”

Anger

The probe was launched in July after former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage had his account closed by down by the prestigious bank Coutts.

Mr. Farage had been with them for over 40 years and said his bank closed his account with “no explanation.”

Both Mr. Farage and Reform Party leader Richard Tice, who also said that he was “debanked” because of his political views, reacted with anger at the report.

Mr. Farage called the recent report a “whitewash and a joke,” with Mr Tice calling it “a disgrace.”

Reform UK honorary president Nigel Farage listens during a party press conference in London, England on March 20, 2023. Carl Court/Getty Images

“While no bank, building society, or payment firm reported to us that they had closed accounts primarily due to someone’s political views, further work is needed for us to be sure,” FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi said.

“As we undertake that work, the time is also right for a debate on how we balance access to bank accounts with the threat of financial crime, as well as firms’ reasonable risk and commercial appetites,” Mr. Rathi said.

“An important question for policymakers is whether all individuals, businesses, and organisations should have the right to an account, as is the case in some other countries,” he said.

“What’s more, international comparisons suggest robust digital identities could play an important role not only in countering financial crime but also in aiding financial inclusion,” he added.

The FCA said that it will be doing further work with firms to verify the data and to better understand the reasons behind, for example, the closure of accounts due to reputational risk.

Farage’s Debanking

When Mr. Farage said he was “debanked,” he said he had been persecuted for his views.

It was later revealed in a 40-page memo by a Wealth Reputational Risk Committee that support for former President Donald Trump as well as his views on immigration, net zero, and the COVID-19 vaccine are listed as reasons to exit him.

Natwest’s chief executive, owner of the prestigious bank Coutts, eventually apologised to Mr. Farage and promised a full review of the bank’s processes after a dossier said that his views “were at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation.”

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday, Mr. Farage wrote: “The FCA says it finds no evidence of politicians being ‘debanked’ over political views. This new report is a whitewash and a joke.”

“If we don’t have a regulator that is fit for purpose, what hope is there for our banking industry?” he added.

Speaking in a video posted to his account, Mr. Farage noted that the FCA report was leaked to the Financial Times.

“By the way, the same Financial Times that wrote I had been debanked through lack of funds, which was wrong,” he added.

Mr. Farage said “Haven’t they seen the other Ukip members, Conservative members, and Brexit Party MEPs who’ve been debanked? It’s a list as long as your arm.”

Mr. Farage added that he believes the FCA “are overtly political.”

“They have been putting huge pressure on the banks and financial institutions to follow the diversity and inclusion agenda, yes of course that matters far more than protecting customers’ money,” he said.

“And because they are so political they can’t see bias where it exists,” he added.

Stitch Up

Last month, Mr. Tice confirmed The Epoch Times that he had a loan rejected from a major bank because the key Brexit figure was deemed a “reputational risk.”

This was after he was risk-assessed by the reinsurance company Swiss Re.

Explaining the “reason for decline,” in the report Swiss Re added that “the chief executive is Richard Tice, a former member of the European Parliament. He is currently leader of Reform UK.”

Reacting to the FCA’s report, Mr. Tice told The Epoch Times that it was a “disgrace” and that he was “furious.”

He said that the report was a “cover-up stitch up by the Establishment” and that the “CEO should resign, so out of touch.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the FCA for comment.