The Energy Secretary Grant Shapps has claimed that he family were de-banked because of his political role.
According to The Telegraph:
The Energy Secretary said anyone wanting to enter public life risked being “penalised” by institutions as a result of additional bureaucracy.
Mr Shapps recalled how “every single member of my family”, including his wife, teenage sons and siblings, had been turned down when trying to open accounts.
“My oldest son is 22, and he was outright refused an account by one of the challenger banks,” he told the Sun on Sunday. “The boss told him that it was because they have been told that they mustn’t allow open bank accounts for politically exposed people. It is mad.
“Anyone who decides to devote their life to public service is essentially at risk of being penalised by banks.”
Money-laundering regulations mean that banks must apply additional due diligence to politically exposed persons and consider whether they are more susceptible to involvement in bribery or corruption.
They can also shut an account at any time with limited notice and are generally not legally required to explain their decisions.
Criticising the extent of red tape surrounding high-profile figures, Mr Shapps noted that he had been asked for 18 years worth of P60 payslips on making a recent application to open a new account.
He said while his 19-year-old son had banked with HSBC since he was very young, he had recently been presented with “an enormous list of things” it wanted him to provide, which included a request to explain “the source of your wealth”.
Mr Shapps criticised “woke” culture in boardrooms in the wake of the row surrounding Nigel Farage, whose account with Coutts was closed after the top private bank decided the former Ukip leader’s political views did not align with its “values”.
“They’ve gone too far with this,” he said. “They should get on with the job of being good at banking and not trying to second guess society – there are laws, there are politicians, there are courts.”
Mr Shapps is not the only politically exposed person to speak out about his difficulties using financial institutions.
Ivo Dawnay, the brother-in-law of former prime minister Boris Johnson, has claimed he was blocked from using currency exchange abroad because of his political links.
