Many MPs or their families have been turned down by banks because of “politically exposed persons” (PEP) rules, the policing minister, Chris Philp, has said.
Philp was speaking in the wake of a row over the closure of Nigel Farage’s account with the private bank Coutts, a subsidiary of NatWest.
Dame Alison Rose, the chief executive of NatWest Group, resigned on Wednesday morning after admitting to sharing information about Nigel Farage’s bank account with the BBC.
“It is not spoken about much but if you look at almost any member of parliament they will have had an experience like this, I think the Nigel Farage case is an extreme one, but I’m afraid it’s not unique,” Philp told Sky News on Wednesday.
Asked if he had faced difficulties accessing financial services, Philp said his family had, but declined to go into detail.
A dossier obtained by Farage using a subject access request, showed the former Ukip leader’s bank account was closed after commercial considerations – wealth falling below a threshold – and concerns over his “xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views”.
Banks have a legal obligation to monitor their clients’ account, and to make risk assessments based on the information they have gathered. Politically exposed persons – individuals who because of their roles as public officials are deemed to carry a higher risk of bribery or corruption – require additional supervision.
Banks can also monitor any negative media coverage of their customers, as well as social media accounts and credit data, but this is usually meant to identify people who could potentially carry out a criminal act.
Farage blamed the account closure on “blatant corporate prejudice” or because of rules about financial services for being a politically exposed person.
He has since called for further resignations at NatWest and for legislation to prevent banks from considering political views when making decisions on who can hold an account.
From the end of June, the Financial Conduct Authority has been given three months to review PEP rules.
It was revealed this month that the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, was refused a bank account with Monzo last year, which he believed was a result of being a politically exposed person.
“Banks have also more widely been overzealously interpreting the PEP rules, which meant many MPs have had trouble getting access to financial services. MPs’ families as well, spouses and children even, so they have been a bit overzealous,” Philp told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He called the closure of Farage’s account “particularly bad” and said there was a wider issue of banks potentially not providing banking services to people because of their lawful political views.
“We believe in free speech in this country, we believe in political freedom and that means no one should be denied banking services,” said Philp.
