By Chris Dorrell
Bank bosses today agreed to protect freedom of expression after they were hauled in for talks with City minister Andrew Griffith following the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account.
In a meeting today with bank bosses in the Treasury, representatives from Natwest, HSBC, Nationwide, Lloyds, Santander and Barclays committed to not ‘debank’ customers because of their political views.
“All participants committed to the principle of non-discrimination based on lawful freedom of expression,” the Treasury said.
The meeting was held after it emerged that Natwest had closed Nigel Farage’s bank account, partly because of his political opinions.
The scandal forced boss Dame Alison Rose into a dramatic resignation late last night after she admitted to having been the source for a BBC story claiming Farage was ‘debanked’ for falling below the required threshold.
Natwest’s head of retail banking David Lindberg attended the meeting in place of Rose.
Following the meeting Griffith said that “it’s not the job of banks to tell us what to think or what political party we should support”.
“The government’s been extremely clear on this,” he said, adding that a democracy relies upon freedom of expression and freedom of thought to function.
The banks committed to bringing their policies in line with new government proposals, even “anticipating the new regulations” where possible.
The proposals will increase termination notice periods to 90 days, giving customers time to challenge a decision through the Financial Ombudsman Service or find a replacement bank. Banks will also be required to explain why they are terminating a bank account.
There will be limited exceptions to these requirements, for example to ensure that bank communications aren’t interfering with investigations into criminal activity.
Attendees accepted that the debanking issue has “impacted upon public trust for the whole sector” and they recognised the need to protect banks’ compliance with rules designed to prevent financial crime.
While Nigel Farage’s case has attracted a lot of attention, many have suggested that a whole range of different people have been affected by ‘debanking’ over the past few years.
The Fair Business Banking All Party Parliamentary Grouplaunched an investigation today into the scale of banks freezing or withdrawing bank accounts.
The APPG said that businesses and individuals have been in touch after their bank accounts were closed with little or no explanation.
William Wragg, co-chair of the APPG, stated: “The banking industry holds a unique position in our economy, sitting between a service provider and a utility company. This position comes with unique responsibilities, to support economic activity but also to fight financial crime.”
