Coutts was today branded more ‘political politburo than bank’ as it finally admitted a customer’s politics can lead to them losing accounts as the scandal over its decision to dump Brexiteer Nigel Farage and brief against him to the BBC continues.
The bank favoured by the royals, the rich and famous, is in the midst of a PR disaster and has released a new statement confirming they do consider ‘political and personal views’ and ‘reputational considerations’ in decisions to close an account.
Veteran journalist Andrew Neil told the BBC today Coutts had ‘acted like a kind of political politburo rather than a bank’. He added: ‘If banks want to act as political parties and have political criteria, they should publish what their political criteria is before you can have their bank account. They should also make themselves accountable to the public.’
It came as it was revealed that Coutts recently signed up to corporate scheme which vows to tackle ‘racism, transphobia, classism and xenophobia’.
The closure of Mr Farage’s accounts sparked outrage among senior Tory MPs, who have piled pressure on Coutts and its owner NatWest. Internal documents have suggested the real reason Mr Farage was dropped by Coutts was because his views did not ‘align with its purpose and values’.
In a statement the bank admitted that politics do come into play. A spokesman said: ‘We recognise the substantial interest in this case. We cannot comment on the detail given our customer confidentiality obligations.
‘However, it is not Coutts’ policy to close customer accounts solely on the basis of legally held political and personal views.
‘Decisions to close an account are not taken lightly and involve a number of factors including commercial viability, reputational considerations, and legal and regulatory requirements.’
Nigel Farage delivered a stark warning about the threat from ‘woke‘ banks to MailOnline last night after going public with a dossier showing Coutts axed him for not being ‘inclusive’.
In an exclusive interview the prominent Eurosceptic warned his experience is just the tip of the iceberg.
