Nigel Farage.

As much as I loath chancers like Farage, I am, personally, deeply uncomfortable with commercial organisations making decisions like this predicated upon a political viewpoint, where that viewpoint does not contravene current law. Which Farage, as I understand it, has not.

We should all be wary of decisions like this.

I recently had my bank account frozen here in the UK. The reason? I was trying to pay a bill in Germany of about 900 quid. It was the bill to have my car serviced. The Bank here refused to believe that I could drive my car away from the service dealer without paying then and there. I explained that that is not how it works with the service company. You drive away and they bill you through the post a few days later. Took me three days to get it unlocked. I also had to visit a branch to prove my identity before they would unlock it! While I am happy that the bank's keep an eye on possible fraud or money laundering, at times they can be overbearing. 900 quid is not exactly money laundering is it. Like most things these laws were introduced to go after the big guys, but in reality they are used against the small guys, as the big guys are more difficult to catch, whereas the small guy is easy prey. It's exactly the same with Tax.

An EU law/regulation on banking,that ought to of been scrapped on Leaving the EU ,has allowed our banks to do the dirty on eg Nigel Farage,closing his account and denying his requests for a new account at other banks.PEP.Politically Exposed People. People with political views the EU don't agree with can have their bank account closed.

With abit of luck the Government will fix this by actually scrapping/changing this EU rule.A rule that may suit the EU,but its nonsense in our UK.

The Conservative Party may be concerned about losing donations from wealthy people with right wing views.
That may get them moving!

This is now quite scary. The truth behind Farage having his accounts cancelled has come out. Freedom of speech and even Freedom of Thought is under attack pretty much everywhere.


Coutts investigation

The real scary thing is that the new Digital Currency is actively being worked on by all governments. In the near future Oldie, what if someone like Tesco's decide your views don't match theirs. Will they stop you shopping there? What about Water or Electric companies? Will they be able to turn you away if your views don't align with theirs? And of course, with a Digital Currency the government itself can control where and when you spend your money. What if the government decide to restrict the amount of alcohol you can buy in any given period, because some twat has decided the Nation drinks too much!
Put your personal views of Nigel Farage aside for a moment and have a look at the bigger picture. It really is quite scary.

Agreed,it's getting scary Nobby.It's getting out of hand.The Lefty woke thing,infiltrating groups all over the place.
I can't stand the Labour Party.

Nobby, thanks for that even if it was a link to the Mail. It proves what NF is saying is bullsh*t.
I am surprised you are getting so het up. I thought you were more than a bootie in the Army and would be used to intelligence reports.
This is a strategy paper and as NF is a Politically Exposed Person, the report will be obliged to contain known instances of Political involvement which is in line with standards expected by HMG not just the bank. The banks are expected to produce such reports and these have to be available under the relevant laws to HMG and the relevant authorities. ALL PEPs would have such reports. So blame the Government not Coutts.

Bottom line is that he doesn't meet the criteria for a customer and there is no commercial reason to step outside those criteria and to do so might in fact damage the bank's reputation.
 
Having read through the report I refer you to the following -
Page 1 - 'Recommendation is to retain NF for now'... [he is at this time below the criteria for a Coutts customer] ...However, it was noted that NF currently has a mortgage with Coutts, which is due to expire in July 2023, and which, on a commercial basis, we would not look to renew and so would suggest winding down the connection on that basis'
Page 43 - 'I wanted to make you aware of a commercial exit decision we have made on the account of Nigel Farage. The relationship has been below commercial criteria for some time and upon review of Nigel's past public profile and connections, the perceived risks for the future weighed against the benefit of retention, the decision was taken to exit upon repayment of an existing mortgage.
In making the decision risk factors including accusations of links to Russia, controversial public statements which were felt to conflict with the bank's purpose and the possibility, speculated upon in the press and not denied, or re-entry to politics were taken into account. There is however also clearly a risk of negative publicity in exiting which was accepted.
The exit was expected to be in Q3 2023 however the mortgage has now been repaid early and the security released which is triggering an earlier notification of exit to the client.' [The latter indicating an automatic notification to the client of exit as he doesn't meet the settings limits for a client - that is 'computer says no']

The bank refers to political comments and discounts them themselves. The highlighting by the Daily Mail adds nothing to the decision which is purely commercial. 
Having been a poacher turned gamekeeper and worked with the FCA, senior accountancy and legal firms on customer complaints against the banks, there is nothing in this report that justifies his comments that this was purely a political decision. The only area where the bank mentions his views are where the Committee to which the report was presented state that 'The Committee did not think continuing to bank NF [which would be outside the criteria for a customer] was compatible with Coutts given his publicly-stated views which were at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation. this was not a political decision but one centred around inclusivity and Purpose'

I would also point out that no bank is obliged by law to either open or continue to operate PEP accounts and where they are held they are under the utmost scrutiny.

Nicely done Cheshire.

So a PEP report, which this is, is not a PEP report because you say it isn't. It was a PEP issue and then became a commercial issue.
When he moved to low PEP criteria, the commercial element kicks in. He is below the commercial measures for having an account at Coutts.
As he is low PEP status, there is no justifiable reason for Coutts to step outside their commercial rules.
If his account says he needs £500k to be  a client and he only has £250k then he does not qualify for a Coutts account. Being a PEP he may appeal to keep the account.
As he is not, he can't. They admit that to close the relationship that there would be a risk of publicity because of the nature of the man. That is, basically, he will kick off like a child who is told his toys are being taken away, which he has.
They accepted that risk.

Why is it a terrible decision when he doesn't meet their rules for holding an account with them? Coutts has always had restrictive rules about having a bank account with them, and I have known that since I first started work in banking in 1974.
If a soldier wanted to be in the SAS and didn't meet their criteria but claimed that it would help SAS make up their diversity numbers, would you let them in?
Or if a SAS let themselves go but claimed that they were still good enough to fight even if they were 50kg over weight and couldn't run but they know what to do would the Army let them stay?
The only reason there is a fuss is because it's Nigel Farage, and once again people fall for his lies, smoke and mirrors.