Why Britain’s most prestigious bank canceled Nigel Farage

LONDON — He always said the U.K. establishment was out to get him. Now Nigel Farage has the receipts.

Britain’s most prominent Brexiteer has produced a 12,000-word document from the bank Coutts which, according to Farage, reveals the truth behind the forced closure of his account there.

The former Brexit Party leader has been embroiled in a row with the institution — so esteemed it has served successive generations of the royal family — after Coutts canceled his account earlier this month. Farage said at the time that no reason was given — but subsequent media reports, including on the BBC, cited a minimum wealth threshold Farage no longer met.

Now an internal document from Coutts, obtained by Farage through a subject access request he made to the bank and published in full by the Daily Mail newspaper, shows it wanted to drop him as a client long before — and used his controversial public profile as justification.

A briefing presented to the bank’s “reputational risk committee” said Farage is considered by many to be a “disingenuous grifter” with “xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views” and suggests it could dump him once he paid off his mortgage and dropped below its wealth criteria.

The document cites his comments on Brexit, his friendship with former U.S. President Donald Trump and controversial tennis star Novak Djokovic. It flags his views on the COVID vaccine and un-evidenced links to Russia.

“The committee did not think continuing to bank NF was compatible with Coutts given his publicly-stated views that were at odds with our position as an inclusive organization,” the report said. “This was not a political decision but one centered around inclusivity and purpose.”

In a section entitled “key risks,” the Coutts committee says “there is a lot of adverse press relating to NF,” and states Farage is “high profile and actively courts controversy.”

Referring to his support for Trump and defense of sexual harassment allegations made against the ex-president, the document states his comments “are distasteful and appear increasingly out of touch with wider society.”

Farage has said Coutts previously told him he was not being treated as a “Politically Exposed Person” — a banking term for customers who are deemed risky due to their political prominence.

The dossier states that Farage had already been downgraded to low risk and may lose that designation entirely “as he is no longer associated with any political party.”

In a statement to the Telegraph, Coutts said its ability to respond is restricted by “obligations of client confidentiality,” and that decisions to close accounts “take into account a number of factors including commercial viability, reputational considerations and legal and regulatory requirements.”

Fightback

The dossier has already sparked a backlash in the U.K., with ministers demanding answers and warning of serious free speech ramifications.

Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — no ideological bedfellow of Farage — tweeted Wednesday afternoon: “This is wrong. No one should be barred from using basic services for their political views. Free speech is the cornerstone of our democracy.”

City Minister Andrew Griffith said in a statement Wednesday that “it would be of serious concern if financial services were being denied to anyone exercising their right to lawful free speech.”

“Businesses have the right to protect against real risks to their reputation — for example from criminal activity — but the privilege of a banking licence in a democracy should imply a duty not to ‘debank’ simply because you don’t agree with someone’s views,” he added.

The row over the high-profile bank shuttering his account offers Farage — now a host on the right-wing GB News channel — a fresh chance to blast political correctness and perceived censorship of right-wing opinions.

Attacks on “woke capitalism” are not limited to the former Brexit Party leader, and feature prominently in right-wing populist politics in the U.S., where Republicans are waging a war on Wall Street’s efforts to tackle climate change and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is publicly feuding with Disney.

“The Coutts scandal exposes the sinister nature of much of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion industry,” tweeted U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman, seen as on the right of the governing Conservatives.

The dispute raises broader questions too over whether this is just one man’s fight with his bank — or a wider problem of banks jettisoning uncomfortable clients

Global dirty money rules force lenders to undertake more detailed checks on risky customers, in their role as gatekeepers of the financial system.

Those checks cost money and make some customers — including diamond traders, refugees and diplomats — less appealing to banks.

But such checks are also in place for a reason. The Qatargate bribery scandal in Brussels — which featured literal bags of cash recovered by police — shows how some politicians can merit extra scrutiny.