The fallout over the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account has shed light on how financial institutions handle “politically exposed persons”, whom they may view as high-risk clients.
Farage, the former Ukip leader, who held a bank account at the NatWest-owned private bank Coutts, obtained and published a dossier showing that the bank closed his account after identifying him as a reputational risk. The internal report stated that Farage’s views “do not align with our values”. Two executives at NatWest banking group – CEO Alison Rose and Peter Flavel, head of the bank’s Coutts division – have since resigned.
