Nigel Farage, former leader of UKIP and the Brexit Party, and a long-time member of the EU Parliament until the UK's exit from the EU, has lost his account at the private bank Coutts. According to reports, the affluent financial institution terminated the controversial politician's account because he had fallen below the minimum threshold of wealth (in the millions) required to maintain an account there. Farage sees this as a politically motivated move against him. Apparently, other customers have also invested less money than required without Coutts taking action against them.

In his attempt to find a new bank, Farage claims to have received nine rejections so far. The reasons given were that he is a "politically exposed person" (PEP) whom they preferred to avoid. Special regulations apply to dealing with PEPs due to money laundering and terrorism financing, including in the EU. However, refusing to provide an account to someone solely based on this status would be problematic. Yet, that seems to be precisely what is happening. It was only with great difficulty that a bank agreed to open an account for a lady with Down syndrome because her grandfather had previously served as the British Chancellor of the Exchequer and sat in the House of Lords. When her mother tried to set up an account for a nonprofit organization, her noble brother-in-law - who isn't even a member of the House of Lords - became an issue.

In addition to the daring assumption that drug and terror funds primarily flow through the private bank accounts of current and former politicians from various parties and their relatives, ideological questions also seem to play a role in account terminations. Claire Fox, former MEP for the Brexit Party in 2019/20, reports that her and a fellow member's accounts were terminated at that time without any explanation. Richard Fothergill, an Anglican clergyman, recently lost his account at an English bank after 17 years because he provided critical feedback on the bank's advertising activities during the LGBT+ "Pride Month" in June. "True diversity is diversity of opinions," the pastor warns. The situation has now gained so much attention that even British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak felt compelled to warn banks on Monday against putting customers with differing opinions on blacklists. Her Majesty's government now intends to investigate such cases.

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