LONDON: Pressure piled on prestigious private bank Coutts on Wednesday after Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage claimed the financial institution shuttered his account because his views “do not align” with their values.

The former leader of the right-wing UK Independence Party (UKIP) said he obtained a 40-page report regarding the closure of his account from the high-net-worth bank that has been used by the British royal family.

Farage said in Twitter video on Tuesday evening that the report repeatedly mentions Brexit and evokes his support for former US president Donald Trump.

In the video, he quoted the report as saying the bank felt that “commentary and behaviours that do not align with the bank’s purpose and values have been demonstrated” and that Farage was “seen as xenophobic and racist”.

The Eurosceptic politician and now television presenter has for decades campaigned for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and was a key figure in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

In a column for the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, Farage said he believed the bank, a subsidiary of UK banking giant NatWest, targeted him on “personal and political grounds”.

He described the document as a “Stasi-style surveillance report”, which reads “like a pre-trial brief drawn up by the prosecution in a case against a career criminal”.

The BBC and the Financial Times previously reported the accounts were closed because they fell below the required financial threshold, but Farage said the decision “had nothing to do with my finances”.

Coutts said its “ability to respond is restricted by our obligations of client confidentiality”.

“Decisions to close accounts are not taken lightly and take into account a number of factors including commercial viability, reputational considerations and legal and regulatory requirements,” the bank added.

Coutt’s decision drew criticism from senior members of the ruling Conservative party.

“It wouldn’t be right if financial services were being denied to anyone exercising their right to lawful free speech,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in parliament.

Foreign minister James Cleverly said the decision “completely undermines the trust we have in our banking and financial systems” while Home Secretary Suella Braverman called the situation a “scandal”.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2023