US Edition
Minister warns banks not to ‘take sides’ in wake of debanking scandal
Financial institutions urged to focus on their day job and not get involved with political issues
Banks should not “take sides” on politics when assessing who can have an account, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury has said.
Andrew Griffith warned banks that they should focus on carrying out their “core functions” and “treating customers fairly”, rather than picking a side on “politically contentious issues”.
His comments came as the Treasury frontbench returned to the House of Commons after recess, and faced questions on the summer’s debanking scandal.
Mr Griffiths and other Treasury figures have been critical of financial institutions found to have “debanked” certain customers because of their political views. In June 2023, documents obtained by Nigel Farage showed his political views played a role in him losing his Coutts account.
The Treasury minister said that the Government had been “clear” that “debanking customers on the basis of political opinion is unacceptable”.
‘Sinister cancelling agenda’
Conservative MP Marco Longhi, speaking in the Commons, cited the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s comments on police impartiality while on duty.
Mr Longhi said: “Last week the Met Police chief finally seemed to confirm that the police’s job should be to police and not to seek to align itself to entities or ideologies.
“Does the minister agree with me that banks and the corporate world should follow this example and focus their efforts on their core business, rather than play the sinister cancelling agenda of the woke brigade that saw Nigel Farage have his accounts wrongfully closed?”
Mr Griffith replied: “He is quite right. Although they are private entities, banks do benefit from a privileged place in society and they should focus on doing their core functions brilliantly well, treating customers fairly, making a sustainable return for shareholders, rather than taking sides on politically contentious matters.”
He added that he had met with banking executives during parliamentary recess to discuss the issue and “lawful freedom of expression”.
The revelations surrounding the former Ukip leader’s accounts saw the chief executive of Natwest, Dame Alison Rose, which owns Coutts, forced to resign.
Watchdog’s debanking investigation
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned earlier this week that banks that wrongly deny accounts to politicians and their families now face the prospect of being fined.
The watchdog is continuing its investigation into how financial institutions treat “Politically Exposed Persons”, or PEPs. The FCA is working on two reviews, one which predated the Farage case and the handling of PEPs, as well as another into the overall scale of debanking.
The Treasury also previously announced new rules to stop banks closing personal accounts because of a customer’s political views.
The new regulations include the notice period of account closure being extended from two to three months, providing savers with more time to challenge the decision through the Financial Ombudsman Service.