The reason Nigel Farage’s account was closed is because it fell below the financial threshold required to hold an account at Coutts the BBC has reported. Mr Farage had accused his bank of shutting it down for political reasons and claimed he had been turned down by seven other vendors when he tried to open a new account.
However the BBC has said that the ‘royal’ bank has clear criteria for when people are allowed to hold an account with them. The BBC, quoting ‘people familiar with Coutts’ move’ said it had been a ‘commercial’ decision.
The criteria for holding a Coutts account are clear from the bank’s website,” they told the BBC. Coutts requires its customers to borrow or invest at least £1m with the bank or hold £3m in savings. The bank did not comment on Mr Farage’s account. It has been reported that Mr Farage was offered a standard account at NatWest which owns Coutts.
