Politics

What’s happened with Nigel Farage’s bank accounts

Published

2 years ago

July 26, 2023

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Nigel Farage’s bank account being closed has now led to a BBC apology and NatWest’s boss resigning.

How did we get here – and why was the account really closed?

Here’s how the controversy unfolded.

• Nigel Farage’s account is closed

At the end of June, Mr Farage said a bank – later confirmed as Coutts – had decided to stop doing business with him.

He said a letter from the bank contained no explanation and he had then been told over the phone it was a “commercial decision”.

In the six-minute video posted on Twitter, he said losing his bank account was the equivalent of being a “non person” and that the decision may “fundamentally affect [his] future career and whether [he] can even go on staying living here in this country”.

“The establishment are trying to force me out of the UK by closing my bank accounts,” the caption read.

In a second Twitter video, he said he had been rejected from having bank accounts by nine different companies.

He said NatWest, the owner of Coutts, offered him an account after his announcement last week, but it was not suitable because it was a personal and not a business account.

MR Farage claimed banks did not want him as a customer due to him being a “politically exposed person“, or PEP.

A PEP is someone who holds or has held public office and therefore may be more susceptible to bribery or corruption.

• BBC claims Farage didn’t have enough money

On 4 July, a BBC report claimed the bank did not want his custom because he did not have enough money in his accounts.

The prestigious private bank requires clients to have at least £1m in investments or borrowing – including a mortgage – or £3m in savings.

The BBC reported that Mr Farage’s political opinions were not a factor in the decision.

But it turned out this wasn’t the case.

• Coutts’ dossier on Farage

After Coutts first told him they were cutting ties, Mr Farage submitted a subject access request to them.

He then received a 40-page document detailing all of the evidence Coutts accumulated about him to feed back to its Wealth Reputational Risk Committee.

It revealed staff at the bank spent months compiling evidence on the “significant reputational risks of being associated with him”.

The main risks were:

Reputational – as Mr Farage is “high profile” and “actively courts controversy”
Financial crime – due to “alleged Russia connections”

The document – reported on 18 July – suggested the move was taken partly because his views did not align with the firm’s “values”, including his position on LGBTQ+ rights and friendship with former US president Donald Trump.

Ultimately it concluded the Mr Farage’s views were “at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commented on the issue, tweeting: “This is wrong. No one should be barred from using basic services for their political views. Free speech is the cornerstone of our democracy.”

• The BBC apologises

On 24 July, the BBC issued an apology to Mr Farage over the story “which turned out not to be accurate”.

In a statement, the broadcaster said: “We acknowledge that the information we reported – that Coutts’ decision on Mr Farage’s account did not involve considerations about his political views – turned out not to be accurate and have apologised to Mr Farage.”

• NatWest boss resigns

NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose resigned on 26 July after admitting to being the source of an inaccurate story about Mr Farage’s bank account.

The resignation was expected in the wake of briefings by Downing Street that she had lost the confidence of the prime minister and chancellor.

It came after she apologised to Mr Farage for the “deeply inappropriate comments” made about him in documents prepared for the company’s wealth committee.

She said the remarks “did not reflect the view of the bank”, which has now offered him “alternative banking arrangements”.

• 10 banks turned down Farage after Coutts closure

Speaking to Sky News after Dame Alison’s resignation, Mr Farage said 10 banks had turned him down after Coutts decided to close his account.

The former Brexit Party leader would not name the banks, but said: “I don’t want to take on the whole industry.”

“You can’t exist in the world without a bank account,” he said. “You effectively become a non-person.”

• What could happen next?

Banks face a Treasury clampdown in the wake of the row over Mr Farage’s account.

Lenders will be forced to give customers three months’ notice of account closures and to provide a full explanation of the reasons under reforms expected to be unveiled soon, Sky News understands.

Politics

Birmingham bin strike resolution ‘could be in touching distance’ – as conciliation service drafted in

Published

2 hours ago

April 23, 2025

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Birmingham bin strike resolution 'could be in touching distance' - as conciliation service drafted in

A deal to resolve the Birmingham bin strike could be “in touching distance”, the Unite union has announced.

The action by members of Unite, which began on 11 March as part of a dispute over pay, has seen thousands of tonnes of rubbish go uncollected and warnings of a public health emergency in the city.

Talks to end the strike are to involve the conciliation service Acas for the first time, signalling an agreement could be close.

Unite secretary general Sharon Graham said that while a deal is close, “Birmingham City Council is again guilty of saying one thing in public and another in the negotiations”.

“This flip flopping needs to be sorted prior to the Acas negotiations next week, so the dispute can be resolved and end the uncertainty for workers and the misery for Birmingham residents,” she added.

“The threats of savage pay cuts must also now cease for drivers. Unite has put forward workable proposals. The ball is now in the council’s court.”

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner visited Birmingham earlier this month and called on the union to accept a “significantly improved” deal for workers.

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Politics

Here’s how HEX’s Richard Heart beat SEC fraud charges

Published

3 hours ago

April 23, 2025

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Here’s how HEX’s Richard Heart beat SEC fraud charges

Richard Heart, the controversial founder of HEX, is claiming total victory over the US SEC after years of court battles.

On April 21, the SEC said that it would not amend and refile its fraud case against the former child actor and crypto evangelist. A court had dismissed the SEC’s fraud charges against Heart on Feb. 28.

Heart announced on X that HEX had obtained a victory very few crypto projects could boast: “Richard Heart, PulseChain, PulseX, and HEX have defeated the SEC completely and have achieved regulatory clarity that nearly no other coins have.”

HEX may be out of hot water with American securities regulators (for now), but Heart still faces charges in Europe, where he is wanted both for alleged tax fraud and for alleged assault on a minor.

SEC claimed Heart used HEX to defraud investors

In July 2023, the SEC filed a complaint against Heart, whose real name is Richard James Schueler, along with HEX, HEX’s layer-1 blockchain project, PulseChain, and the decentralized exchange (DEX) for the PulseChain network, PulseX.

The SEC made a number of allegations, including securities fraud and securities registration violations. It asked the court to bar Heart and his projects from participating in any sort of crypto asset security offering and to give up “all ill-gotten gains received as a result of the violations alleged.”

The complaint noted Heart’s repeated claims that HEX could offer incredible rewards to make investors rich. It also wrote that Heart spent over $12 million of proceeds from HEX offerings on luxury goods such as watches, sports cars and a 555-carat diamond ring.

Indeed, Heart is no stranger to the finer things in life. His celebrity is in part due to his frequent displays of wealth. In one video on X, he flaunted Louis Vuitton cases filled with dozens of luxury watches that he said were worth 9 million euros.

Heart’s court case came down to jurisdiction. Last year, his legal team filed a motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that the SEC failed to show that any activities had occurred within the United States.

The SEC protested the motion. Ultimately, US District Judge Carol Bagley Amon agreed with Heart (the HEX founder does not live in the US), and she ruled that the statements regarding HEX’s price were targeted to a global audience — not US investors.

“The alleged misappropriation occurred through digital wallets and crypto asset platforms, none of which were alleged to have any connection with the United States,” Amon stated.

Finnish authorities want Heart on tax and assault charges

Heart claims that this legal victory provides new ground on which the crypto industry can thrive, creating a legal precedent that supposedly makes HEX safer to work with than any other crypto project.

Heart and HEX may not face American securities regulators, but he is still in hot water with Finnish authorities over alleged tax evasion and assault.

In September 2024, Finnish media wrote that Heart, who was reportedly residing in Helsinki, was remanded into custody in absentia. Finnish investigators, at the request of the country’s tax authorities, were investigating Heart and reportedly found that Heart’s income reporting did not match the tax service’s estimates.

Helsinki police detective Harri Saaristol said, “Based on the very considerable amount of money in question and the long-term and planned nature of the activity, there are grounds to suspect gross tax evasion.”

In the course of their investigation, Finnish police seized millions of euros worth of luxury watches from a residence in the city of Espoo near Helsinki.

Europol also stated that Heart (referred to as Schueler in the report) is wanted for assaulting a minor. “Schueler physically assaulted a 16-year-old victim by grabbing their hair, dragging them into the stairwell and knocking them to the ground.”

The allegations together have earned him a profile on Europol and Interpol’s most wanted criminal lists. Investigations are ongoing.

How long can HEX keep it up?

It seems Heart dodged US regulation because the SEC lacked jurisdiction rather than evidence. So, how long can he keep HEX going?

Industry observers and analysts have long claimed that HEX was a new form of Ponzi scheme, namely due to the promises of a whopping 38% annual percentage yield, larger profits for onboarding new users and the fact that Heart owned some 90% of HEX tokens.

Despite a number of committed acolytes on social media, the token seems all but dead. HEX’s price pumped briefly on news of the SEC dismissal. Zooming out, it’s barely moved since Heart’s legal troubles with the SEC began.

At publishing time, HEX’s price is $0.002253; 24-hour transaction volumes barely top $250,000.

Magazine: Former Love Island star’s tips on how to go viral in crypto: Van00sa, X Hall of Flame

Politics

Bitcoin ETFs log $912M inflows in ‘dramatic’ investor sentiment boost

Published

6 hours ago

April 23, 2025

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Bitcoin ETFs log 2M inflows in ‘dramatic’ investor sentiment boost

Investments in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) rebounded to levels last seen in January, signaling a recovery in investor sentiment from concerns about global trade tariff escalations.

US spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs had over $912 million worth of cumulative net inflows on April 22, marking their highest daily investment in more than three months since Jan. 21, Farside Investors data shows.

Bitcoin ETFs log $912M inflows in ‘dramatic’ investor sentiment boost — *Bitcoin ETF Flow, millions. Source:* *Farside Investors*

“Bitcoin ETPs just saw the largest daily inflows since 21st January in a dramatic improvement in sentiment,” according to James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares.

Investor sentiment appeared to improve after US President Donald Trump said that import tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially,” adopting a softer tone in negotiations.

The de-escalation and growing ETF inflows pushed Bitcoin price above $93,000 for the first time in seven weeks, Cointelegraph reported on April 23.

The growing institutional investment and presence of ETFs may also accelerate the historic four-year cycle and bolster BTC to new highs before the end of 2025, analysts told Cointelegraph.

US dollar weakness may reinforce Bitcoin’s safe-haven appeal

The US dollar’s weakness may contribute to the growing investor demand for Bitcoin.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of leading fiat currencies, has declined 9% since the beginning of 2025, touching a three-year low of 98.8 last seen in April 2022, TradingView data shows.

“Macro factors like a weakening dollar and rising gold correlation” may reinforce Bitcoin’s appeal as a hedge against economic volatility, Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research, told Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin no longer trading in the “shadow of tech”

Crypto and traditional stock markets are “walking a tightrope between political drama and economic reality,” with Bitcoin staging a significant rebound thanks to “strong ETF inflows, institutional acquisitions, and a weakening US dollar,” according to Nexo dispatch analyst Iliya Kalchev:

“Bitcoin’s strength amid dollar weakness, record gold prices, and renewed institutional buying reflects a market recalibrating what safety looks like.”

“The conversation has clearly shifted. Bitcoin is no longer trading in the shadows of tech — it’s becoming a lens through which macro uncertainty is priced,” he added.

Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik also praised Bitcoin’s resilience, noting that the maturing asset has become “less Nasdaq — more gold” in the past two weeks, increasingly acting as a safe haven asset against economic turmoil, though concerns over economic recession may limit its price trajectory.

On April 21, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes predicted that this might be the “last chance” to buy Bitcoin below $100,000, as the incoming US Treasury buybacks may signal the next significant catalyst for Bitcoin price.