City Minister Warns Banks Should Not Tell People What to Think

Nigel Farage speaks during a visit at Dover harbour, in Dover, Britain, on Aug. 12, 2020. (Matthew Childs/Reuters)

Banks should be in no position to “tell us what to think or what political party we should support,” a minister has warned following the resignation of NatWest’s boss over the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account.

Dame Alison Rose resigned in the early hours of Wednesday after admitting she had made a “serious error of judgment” when she discussed with a BBC journalist why the private bank Coutts, owned by NatWest Group, had closed the former Brexit Party leader’s account.

File photo of Dame Alison Rose, dated Feb. 14, 2020. (Nicholas T. Ansell/PA Media)

The BBC had apologised to Mr. Farage for suggesting in the report—based on Ms. Rose’s leak—that his Coutts account was closed owing to lack of funds rather than his political views.

The report was proven to be erroneous after Mr. Farage released dossiers he had acquired from the bank, which indicated that Coutts shut his account because it found his public statements did “not align” with its values.

City minister Andrew Griffith told the UK’s top bankers on Wednesday that the idea that a person could have their account terminated for expressing their political views is “wholly unacceptable.”

He hit out at the termination of accounts over political views and urged banks to learn from the mistakes of NatWest.

Public Trust Damaged

Mr. Griffith made the comments at a virtual meeting with the bosses of Barclays, HSBC, Nationwide, Santander, and NatWest—with David Lindberg, chief executive of NatWest’s retail banking wing, filling in for Ms. Rose.

The minister told broadcasters after the meeting: “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.

“In a democracy that relies upon freedom of expression, freedom of thought, that isn’t a legitimate thing for a bank to remove someone’s access to a bank account, a really important building block of society today.”

The bankers accepted the row had “impacted upon public trust for the whole sector” and committed to not discriminating based on lawful freedom of expression, the Treasury said.

In the wake of Ms. Rose’s resignation, NatWest shares fell by 3 percent, with other banks also seeing their shares hit.

With a 38.6 percent stake, the government remains the biggest shareholder in NatWest after the taxpayer bailed out the bank during the 2008 financial crisis.

Farage Case ‘Not Unique’

The Treasury added that the importance of “proportionate implementation of requirements around politically exposed persons (PEPs)” was also discussed.

Mr. Farage had said he believed he might have been deemed a PEP, a term used for someone who, through their prominent position or influence, is more susceptible to being involved in bribery or corruption.

Financial institutions are required to carry out extra checks on PEPs under anti-money-laundering rules, but politicians with all parties have complained about running into difficulty with banks.

Policing minister Chris Philp said a lot of MPs or their families have been turned down by banking services because of PEP rules, which have been applied “overzealously.”

“I think the Nigel Farage case is an extreme one, but I’m afraid it’s not unique,” he told Sky News on Wednesday.

Mr. Griffith has written to the Financial Conduct Authority, urging the watchdog to prioritise a review of PEP rules so they “do not unduly burden or prevent democratically elected individuals, public officials, or their respective families from access to essential banking services.”

‘Duty of Confidentiality’

The Information Commissioner’s Office said on Wednesday it is concerned over NatWest’s sharing of personal information and has written to banks reminding them of their responsibilities on customer data.

Information Commissioner John Edwards said: “The banking duty of confidentiality is over a hundred years old and it is clear that it would not permit the discussion of a customer’s personal information with the media.

“We trust banks with our money and with our personal information. Any suggestion that this trust has been betrayed will be concerning for a bank’s customers and for regulators like myself.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also said that it was right for Ms. Rose to resign as Mr. Farage “shouldn’t have had his personal details revealed like that.”

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, he also said, “As a broad principle, nobody should be refused banking because of their political views.”

Following her resignation, Ms. Rose has also lost four government roles, including her membership of the prime minister’s Business Council.

PA Media contributed to this report.