Bank account closures: what new rules mean for UK customers

Everyone in the UK has the legal right to a basic bank account under EU legislation brought in before Brexit. Photograph: Lucy Ray/PA

Following the furore over the closure of Nigel Farage’s accounts at the exclusive private bank Coutts, the government has introduced new rules intended to clamp down on “unfair bank account closures”.

Alison Rose, the chief executive of the bank’s parent company, NatWest Group, has apologised for mishandling the case, though in a letter to Farage she stopped short of reinstating him as a Coutts customer. We take a look at what these changes mean for banking customers across the UK.