On July 20, HM Treasury announced its intention to introduce new regulatory rules, using new powers granted by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, concerning the process banks must follow when closing customers’ accounts.
The Treasury explained in a July press release that the proposed rules constituted a government intervention “to address fears that banks are terminating accounts because they disagree with someone’s political beliefs”. This was a thinly veiled reference to the widely publicised dispute between Nigel Farage and Coutts after he obtained evidence that the bank’s decision to close his accounts had been influenced by his political views.
