The UK’s Treasury will ask the leaders of 19 banks and fintechs, including NatWest Group Plc, Lloyds, HSBC Holdings Plc and Barclays, to explain how they’ll ensure that customers aren’t “de-banked” for exercising free speech following a dust-up with Nigel Farage, the Financial Times reported.
The FT said Andrew Griffith, economic secretary to the Treasury, will write to the banks Monday after Farage, one of the most prominent politicians behind the UK’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union, said Coutts was planning to close his account over his personal views. Coutts is a UK bank for the wealthy owned by NatWest.
Read More : UK Banks to Be Summoned by Treasury Amidst Farage Controversy, FT Reveals