Nigel Farage has claimed to have obtained documents showing a prestigious private bank closed his account because his views “do not align with our values”, rather than due to not meeting a financial threshold.
The former leader of the UK Independence party said he got hold of a report from Coutts’s reputational risk committee used to justify the closure via a subject access request.
Writing in the Telegraph, he claimed: “I believe Coutts targeted me on personal and political grounds, for its report reads rather like a pre-trial brief drawn up by the prosecution in a case against a career criminal.”
The report mentioned his comments about Brexit, his friendship with tennis star Novak Djokovic and a perception that he was regarded as “racist and xenophobic”, he said.
“The most extraordinary comments of all are the areas of the report talking about me ‘not aligning with [Coutts’s] views’ and suggesting I must be barred because I do not support the diversity, policies and ‘purpose’ of Coutts, as though Britain is a political regime and I am a dissident,” Farage wrote.
The BBC and the Financial Times have previously reported the Brexit leader fell below the financial threshold needed to hold an account with Coutts, which requires its customers to borrow or invest at least £1m or save at least £3m, according to an eligibility questionnaire on its website.
But Farage insisted the bank’s move “had nothing to do with my finances” and that the report found his funds were “sufficient to retain on a commercial basis”.
A Coutts spokesperson told the Telegraph: “Our ability to respond is restricted by our obligations of client confidentiality.
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“Decisions to close accounts are not taken lightly and take into account a number of factors including commercial viability, reputational considerations and legal and regulatory requirements.”
