The City regulator has discovered no proof that banks are closing accounts on the premise of consumers’ private views, Sky News understands, to the fury of former Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is because of report shortly on the findings of its investigation, carried out amid the so-called de-banking row that engulfed NatWest in relation to the politician’s dealings with the group’s Coutts arm.
But the Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the watchdog had discovered nothing to assist his claims of a wider downside among the many 34 lenders it had examined.
Mr Farage reacted by claiming the FCA was a part of the alleged downside.
“The FCA says it finds no evidence of politicians being ‘debanked’ over political views. This new report is a whitewash and a joke”, he wrote on X – formally generally known as Twitter.
“If we don’t have a regulator that is fit for purpose, what hope is there for our banking industry?”
The probe was ordered by the chancellor who warned trade members final month that they confronted “very large” fines in the event that they closed buyer accounts primarily based on their political views.
The Treasury has additionally unveiled a package deal of reforms designed to power banks to be extra clear about account closures.
The FCA’s report, nonetheless, would appear to recommend the federal government has jumped the gun.
The regulator signalled it might set out its findings on the time of the publication of its investigation.
Coutts boss Peter Flavel resigned, as did NatWest chief government Dame Alison Rose after she admitted being the supply behind an incorrect BBC story concerning the row.
It got here after Mr Farage obtained a 40-page file from Coutts which steered the closure of his accounts was taken partly as a result of his views didn’t align with its “values”, together with his place on LGBTQ+ rights and friendship with former US president Donald Trump.
Source: information.sky.com”