I cannot for the life of me understand why a forty page ’minute’ was created that clearly shows that personal views that were not supported by hard evidence underpinned the decision to show him the door. Particularly when the document highlights the likelihood that Farrage would kick off in public. As it happens I agree with the body of those views - personally I would not be comfortable maintaining a banking relationship with him, as are nine other banks - but that’s not the point.
The industry has a Banking Code - at least it did when I packed up - that covers closure of accounts and they could easily have got shot under the content of that. From memory a reason for closure does not need to be given and there is a timescale that has to be applied to give the client time to make alternate arrangements.
Whatever the rights and wrongs, the clamour for ‘transparency’ isn’t as straightforward as it may seem. There are times when the reason for closure cannot be disclosed for legal reasons such as intelligence in crime/money laundering and the like (it is actually an offence to disclose in some circumstances) and there is also the right of the bank (and anyone else) to do business with who they want. As an example I spent a lot of time many years ago building a relationship with a property developer only to learn at a late stage (lesson learned!) that he was a discharged bankrupt - there are plenty of potential clients around without that baggage so I moved on.
Apparently there is now a clamour for other customers across the industry asking why they were shown the door. The vast majority will fall into the ‘financial misconduct/service heavy’ bracket….banks are a business, not a public utility, and as such having accounts with them should be regarded in a similar way to driving licences - a privilege, not a right.
ogr1 not sure where you picked up that Coutts & Co is 40% owned by NatWest (previously RBS - remember them
) - it is wholly owned by NatWest. As an aside, If it were a stand alone organisation it would comfortably slip into the FTSE 100 and enjoys a superb reputation within the industry.
Which makes the whole thing even more puzzling.