The Financial Conduct Authority has been criticised after its review uncovered no evidence that politicians are being denied bank accounts because of their views. The Financial Times has the story.
A review by the chief U.K. financial regulator has uncovered no evidence that politicians are being denied bank accounts because of their views, according to people briefed on the findings.
The Financial Conduct Authority launched a probe in August, weeks after former U.K. Independence party [UKIP] leader Nigel Farage unleashed a debate on free speech by claiming his accounts with private bank Coutts were about to be closed because his views “did not align” with the lender.
The row over the ‘debanking’ of Farage sparked complaints from other politicians about their treatment by lenders, prompting the Government to order a review by the FCA. People familiar with the situation said the FCA would publish findings in the coming days showing there were no cases of political views being the “primary” reason for personal account closures across the 34 banks and payment companies that were asked to submit data to the regulator. The FCA declined to comment.
Farage told the Financial Times on Monday night: “This is farcical. There are plenty of examples of prominent Brexiteers being debanked. The FCA is part of the problem.” …
Farage in July published extracts from a dossier compiled by Coutts about him, as it deliberated about closing his accounts, in which the bank said continuing to serve him would not be “compatible with Coutts” since his views were “at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation”.
The FT reports “some unease” in Whitehall that the FCA had failed to find data showing that “debanking of people for their political views was widespread”. One Government insider is reported to have said that “regulators have been quite slow off the line on this issue”, adding that the data assembled by the FCA “might lack granularity”.
A separate FCA review of the treatment of ‘politically exposed persons’ is ongoing.
Worth reading in full.
The story is also covered by Sky News and the BBC, without a paywall.
Stop Press: The FT is now reporting that the FCA has pledged to “look more deeply into bank account closures” following the “fierce backlash”.
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Of course you don’t find evidence of anything bad when you have been told what to ignore before you start a review.
MHRA
NHS
ONS
BBC
RNLI
FCA…ad infinitum
and the endless gov’t-alphabet soup agencies everywhere….though I am a denying idiot and phobic, I see a pattern…
In another ruling, the FCA has determined that the Pope is NOT a Catholic, neither do bears defecate in the woods.
Nelson putting his telescope to his blind eye: ‘Ships? I see no ships’.
To be fair, I have never thought that this Pope is a Catholic. Not that I care, but I thought it was expected of papal candidates.
You’re right – it is, and he isn’t (and I am a practising, traditional Catholic).
Same here. Frank is a globalist-communist disaster – selected and imposed, never ‘elected’.
Ah, very clever. There is no problem with the banks but the FCA needs looking in to. All of a sudden the debanking issue has gone away.
Astute, HP.
Thanks Aethelred
And they wonder why our civilisation is collapsing…
“And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”.
Cracking poem. I won a prize for my recital of it when I was at school!
https://corbettreport.substack.com/p/the-covid-protesters-where-are-they
The stories after the arrests of those who stood up to the tyranny. Bitter sweet.
It was also covered by GBN an hour or so ago. No doubt Farage will be talking about it later today, but Liam Halligan, their economics journalist, was severely critical of it.
So if it’s not for their views, then why are they having their accounts closed?
To discourage the others…
Rats in charge of the cheese larder.
As with OfCOM overseeing the news, the BBC Trust overseeing the BBC.
How many times have Parties in opposition promised ‘a bonfire of quangos’? And yet they breed like flies and are just as pestilential.
Time to get the fire-lighters. And whilst we are at it: Paging Mr Fawkes. Please call your office.
Can this artist be debanked please?? Actually it’ll be anybody openly criticizing this gargantuan monstrosity that will most likely have their accounts closed. I’m all out of words. This needs the Blade Runner treatment and sharpish!
”A 16-foot statue of a woman wearing the Islamic hijab headdress will be unveiled next month in a suburb of the multicultural city of Birmingham, in what is believed to be a first in the world.
The sculpture designed by leftist artist Luke Perry, dubbed the ‘Strength of the Hijab’, will be erected in the English town of Smethwick in October and will stand 16 feet (five metres) and weigh approximately one tonne. According to a report from the BBC, the Birmingham suburb statue is thought to be the first of its kind, with even Islamic countries not celebrating the hijab in such a manner.
Mr Perry said: “The Strength of the Hijab is a piece which represents women who wear hijabs of the Islamic faith, and it’s really there because it’s such an underrepresented part of our community, but such an important one.
“They need visibility, it’s so important, so working with the community to come up with the designs has been really exciting because we didn’t know what it was going to look like until now.”
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/09/19/16-foot-statue-of-hijab-wearing-woman-to-be-unveiled-in-suburb-of-multicultural-birmingham/
I don’t remember any statues being commissioned commemorating the coal miners or steel workers who lost their jobs back in the 1980s and the saw their communities fall into ruin. Those were people who had devoted their lives to this country’s prosperity. This statue by the rather woke sculpture Luke Perry seems like a big virtue signal to me. It doesn’t move anything in me at all. Maybe a bit of nausea though. It’s a bit pointless to be honest. If this was about a certain woman who’d contributed towards our society then I’d get it but it doesn’t.
Clearly intended to enrage indigenous British people. From what I can see from the pictures this affront to national sensibilities could not be more Orwellian if they tried – no soft curves of folding cloth just harsh, brutish and aggressive lines. If this was supposed to be a faithful and respectful depiction of an Islamic slave then I would be a bit pi#sed off.
It’s bloody horrendous. Brum has been Islamified!
Yes I’d love to see a giant statue that symbolizes the most misogynistic and brutal ideology which has the objective of conquering and gaining power over non-Muslim nations, which also glorifies the oppression and subjugation of females, whilst simultaneously reveling in the fact that no conflict was necessary in order to ‘dhimmify’ the native dhimwits because they were all too woke and afraid to be labelled a ‘racist/Islamophobe’ so were all a complete walk-over! I mean, why wouldn’t I be joyous to see that sh*t every time I leave my house, ffs?? People are masochists and are thick as pig sh*t. The dhimmified masses will be voting for Sharia law next because they already tried on their garb of servitude during the plandemic and they like how it feels.
I’d love to get the lowdown on how non-Muslim locals feel about this though, but they won’t be able to say anything without being anonymous of course. Can you imagine, say anything negative then you’re labeled ‘Islamophobic’ then you get run out of the village by the pitchfork-wielding loons?! lol I thought the ‘Angel of the North’ was bad!!
Such moderated restraint Mogs.
That’s a good one. The Islam prohibits creating statues of people. In an ideal universe, this would earn Luke Perry the wrath of all muslims in the UK and would lead to a fatwa placed on him. I’d certainly like this outcome.
A white man saluting a Muslim symbol of oppression? Oh well, he must have been rewarded handsomely in $$$$$. Birmingham is bankrupt. The city is already mainly muslim. SO, why laud something that’s already in the mainstream? Oh. Diversity. One day the UK will be pushing for diversity the other way round – promoting western and Christian cultures! Oh cry for me United Kingdom.
They are terrified of the silent majority & the influence of NF & Reform UK. After the referendum & Trump they are not going to make the mistake of allowing the Deplorables the chance to overturn them again.
Just look at the speed that RB has been cancelled this morning.
Staffing levels: FCA 4,352, Treasury 3,200, BoE “over 4,000” (they don’t do accurate numbers, as I think we knew already). Think of the wages, the expenses (I bet no-one travels second or economy class) and the handsome pensions. As a great man said, “ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”
Marking your own homework and giving yourself an ‘A*’. Well done FCA, go to the top of the class.
Although it is supposedly a non-governmental body, it is accountable to the Treasury, and through them to Parliament…..Is there anyone left in the country who thinks there is ANY point to ANY enquiries, which involve the Government, however tenuously?
Anybody?
https://twitter.com/TheFCA/status/1704115071964639661
Financial Conduct Authority
@The FCA
While no bank, building society or payment firm reported to us that they had closed accounts primarily due to someone’s political views, further work is needed for us to be sure.
LOL..well if those honest bankers said so…..LOL!!
Worth a look at the replies……
I would argue from a legal standpint that given our current conditions where most of our transactions, the things that keep us alive are dealt with through banks, a bank account should be a right from birth that can never be rescinded.. And not because we want our lives to be run through banks but because they have crept up on us, I would argue that a bank account should be granted as a right and should not be subject to political foible. Of course we have moved beyond this level of discourse into the realm of direct corporate and banking control. You have to decide for yourself how you deal with these guys.
” … in which the bank said continuing to serve him would not be “compatible with Coutts” since his views were “at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation”.
Coutts inclusive? They are one of the most exclusive organisations ever.
It is simply a corporate funding mechanism that attempts to work below the raidar and not a very clever one; They don’t even care if they lose they call it ‘pushing the envlelope’. It is all money and metrics. Make of it what you will.
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation is reporting that up to 41% of its members are having “difficulties” with their banks, being told informally that their connections with firearms is apparently a no-no. The banks are out of control.
Okay, we all know this is wrong. How do we stop it?
Whilst it is great that the Daily Sceptic is able to publish information like this just writing and talking about it does not change it. One of the problems of writing and talking about it is this gives the impression someone might be doing something about it. It lulls everyone into a false sense of security.
The people who fund and support misinformation and disinformation, whilst claiming it is not, have the money and resources.
Who has the money and resources to stop it?
By what mechanisms can we stop it?
Elected representatives are completely useless as we have seen from MPs and government ministers. They will keep their mouth shut and do nothing, supporting by inaction, all of this dangerous nonsense.
As little people, which we all are, all we can really do is influence our own lives. This means all our attempts to do something will look somewhat comical from a greater picture perspective. But this cannot be helped. A suggestion for a start would be:
Stop funding the BBC. Ideally, stop TV altogether. It’s the medium the political establishment employs to tell you what to think.
Don’t do business with Specsavers. They epitomize the system by treating all their customers as suckers who are ripe for a thorough plucking.
Don’t buy any fastfood.
Don’t vote. The illusion of a democracy is being maintained by pointing at the fact that the disenfranchised majority nevertheless partakes in the pseudo-participation rites.