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

Binance tightens South African compliance rules for crypto transfers

Published

1 hour ago

April 23, 2025

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Binance tightens South African compliance rules for crypto transfers

Binance is set to implement new compliance measures for South African users, requiring sender and receiver information for all crypto deposits and withdrawals.

In an announcement on April 23, the largest exchange in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies said the move comes in response to local regulatory demands.

Starting April 30, Binance users in South Africa will be prompted to provide additional information when transferring crypto.

For deposits, users must disclose the sender’s full name, country of residence, and, if applicable, the name of the originating crypto exchange. Similarly, withdrawals will require beneficiary details before processing.

The update will only impact crypto deposits and withdrawals, leaving trading and other platform features unaffected.

Missing transfer details may reverse transactions

Binance warned that failure to provide the required information may result in delayed transactions or, in some cases, a return of funds to the sender.

In preparation for the rollout, users will need to re-login to their accounts starting April 24.

The change comes as South Africa moves to boost oversight of the rapidly moving crypto sector.

On April 2, Bloomberg reported that South Africa’s Revenue Service (SARS) is urging individuals, crypto exchanges and intermediaries involved in crypto transactions to register with the authority, warning that failure to do so is now illegal.

In March, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa issued a public warning against two unlicensed crypto firms, Afriinvest and Mutualwealth, accusing them of soliciting investments while promising unrealistic returns of up to 10,000 rand ($542) per day.

South Africa pushes to become key crypto hub

Emerging economies across Africa, particularly South Africa, are positioning themselves as potential digital asset hubs amid growing regulatory clarity, Ben Caselin, chief marketing officer (CMO) of Johannesburg-based crypto exchange VALR, told Cointelegraph in September 2024.

Caselin said that South Africa’s strong legal framework and ease of business make it a key entry point for crypto expansion across the continent.

The South African crypto market is projected to generate $278 million in revenue in 2025, with expectations to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.86% and reach $332.9 million by 2028, according to Statista.

Regulatory momentum is increasing, with the FSCA approving 59 crypto platform licenses in March 2024, while over 260 applications remain under review.

Cointelegraph contacted Binance for comments but did not receive a response by publication.

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

Politics

Robert Jenrick vows to ‘bring coalition together’ to end Tory-Reform fight

Published

4 hours ago

April 23, 2025

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Robert Jenrick vows to 'bring coalition together' to end Tory-Reform fight

Robert Jenrick has vowed to “bring this coalition together” to ensure that Conservatives and Reform UK are no longer fighting each other for votes by the time of the next election, according to a leaked recording obtained by Sky News.

The shadow justice secretary told an event with students last month he would try “one way or another” to make sure Reform UK and the Tories do not compete at another general election and hand a second term in office to Keir Starmer in the process.

In the exclusive audio, Mr Jenrick can be heard telling the students he is still working hard to put Reform UK out of business – the position of the Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

However, more controversially, the comments also suggest he can envisage a time when that position may no longer be viable and has to change. He denies any suggestion this means he is advocating a Tory-Reform UK pact.

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The shadow justice secretary came second to Mrs Badenoch in the last leadership contest and is the bookies’ favourite to replace her as the next Conservative leader.

Speaking to the UCL Conservative association dinner in late March, he can be heard saying: “[Reform UK] continues to do well in the polls. And my worry is that they become a kind of permanent or semi-permanent fixture on the British political scene. And if that is the case, and I say, I am trying to do everything I can to stop that being the case, then life becomes a lot harder for us, because the right is not united.

“And then you head towards the general election, where the nightmare scenario is that Keir Starmer sails in through the middle as a result of the two parties being disunited. I don’t know about you, but I’m not prepared for that to happen.

“I want the fight to be united. And so, one way or another, I’m determined to do that and to bring this coalition together and make sure we unite as a nation as well.”

This is the furthest a member of the shadow cabinet has gone in suggesting that they think the approach to Reform UK may evolve before the next general election.

Last night, Mr Jenrick denied this meant he was advocating a pact with Reform UK.

A source close to Mr Jenrick said: “Rob’s comments are about voters and not parties. He’s clear we have to put Reform out of business and make the Conservatives the natural home for all those on the right, rebuilding the coalition of voters we had in 2019 and can have again. But he’s under no illusions how difficult that is – we have to prove over time we’ve changed and can be trusted again.”

Mrs Badenoch has said in interviews that she cannot see any circumstances that the Tories under her leadership would do a deal with Reform UK.

In next week’s local elections, Reform UK will compete directly against the Tories in a series of contests from Kent to Lincolnshire. At last year’s general election, in more than 170 of the 251 constituencies lost by the Conservatives the Reform vote was greater than the margin of the Tories’ defeat.

Today’s YouGov/Sky voting intention figures put Reform UK in front on 25%, Labour on 23% and the Conservatives on 20%, with the Lib Dems on 16% and Greens on 10%.

Politics

SEC says it won’t re-file fraud case against Hex’s Richard Heart

Published

5 hours ago

April 23, 2025

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SEC says it won’t re-file fraud case against Hex’s Richard Heart

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has said it doesn’t intend to refile its securities fraud complaint against Hex founder Richard Schueler, who goes by Richard Heart.

“Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission provides this notice that it does not intend to file an amended complaint in this matter,” the regulator’s lawyer, Matthew Gulde, stated in an April 21 letter to New York District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon.

The court had previously dismissed the SEC’s original complaint on Feb. 28 as Judge Amon said the regulator failed to establish that it had jurisdiction over Heart’s activities, which she said were not specifically targeted at US investors.

She granted leave for the SEC to file an amended complaint by March 20, later extending the deadline to April 21.

Heart posted to X on April 22 that “Richard Heart, PulseChain, PulseX, and HEX have defeated the SEC completely and have achieved regulatory clarity that nearly no other coins have.”

Heart added that the SEC walked away from some of its other cryptocurrency cases voluntarily, but claimed his was the only case where “the SEC lost and crypto won across the board, with a dismissal in court of every single claim the SEC brought.”

Heart said it was a victory for open-source software, cryptocurrency and free speech because the SEC “actually sued software code itself in this case.”

SEC hunted Heart in Finland

The SEC sued Heart in July 2023 for alleged unregistered securities offerings of three tokens, HEX, PulseChain (PLS), and PulseX (PSLX), claiming he made more than $1 billion by touting the tokens as a “pathway to grandiose wealth for investors.”

In April 2024, Heart tried to have the suit tossed, claiming the regulator “has no sway over him,” because he didn’t reside in the United States.

The SEC opposed this in August, claiming he touted the tokens at a Las Vegas event. In December 2024, Interpol issued a Red Notice for Heart, seeking his arrest in Finland, where he was also suspected of tax evasion.

The PulseChain native token (HEX) hit an all-time high of $0.031 in December 2024 but has since tanked 76% as most altcoins have failed to follow Bitcoin’s momentum this year.

The SEC has dropped or suspended several cases against crypto firms so far this year under the Trump administration.

Magazine: Altcoin season to hit in Q2? Mantra’s plan to win trust: Hodler’s Digest