UK government to haul in banks over account closures
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Britain’s finance ministry will request a meeting with major lenders to discuss concerns that banks have closed some customer accounts over their political views, after a public spat between former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage and NatWest.
Financial services minister Andrew Griffith will tell banks and fintechs, including NatWest, Lloyds, HSBC and Barclays, to take action to ensure customers do not lose access to services over their views, according to a draft of the letter due to be sent on Monday and seen by Reuters.
The government outlined reforms last week that would require banks to give more notice of account closures and explain their reasons.
While these haven’t yet come into force, the letter called on banks to act now to protect their customers’ right to lawful freedom of expression.”The Government strongly supports this fundamental right afforded to all people in British society and will take the action necessary to protect it,” the draft letter said.
Griffith said he was calling a roundtable of lenders “at the earliest opportunity” to ensure customers can access an account without fear of being “de-banked” for their lawful views.
