The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has sent information requests to the UK’s largest banks and building societies over account closures.

The FCA said that firms have until 25 August 2023 to provide information on the number of customers that have been terminated; the number of customers suspended; the number of customers denied services; and the number of complaints banks have received on this issue.

The subject of bank account closures was recently put in the spotlight after Natwest-owned bank Coutts closed the account of former politician and ardent Brexiteer Nigel Farage.

Then NatWest chief exec Alison Rose told the BBC that Farage had his account closed because he “fell below the financial threshold” required to hold an account with the bank.

However, a report Farage obtained from the bank's reputational risk committee showed that while the document reportedly mentioned commercial considerations, it also said the committee did not think that continuing to have Farage as a client was "compatible with Coutts given his publicly-stated views that were at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation".

The revelations led to the dismissal of Alison Rose and Coutts’ chief exec Peter Flavel.

Freedom of Information requests have also since revealed British banks are collectively closing more than 1,000 accounts every working day.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) also recently penned a letter to prime minister Rishi Sunak citing concerns over the “arbitrary closure” of bank accounts belonging to Muslim individuals and organisations.

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