Coutts accused of violating client's privacy in family finance dispute

Coutts boss Peter Flavel stepped down following the Nigel Farage debanking scandal. Photo: PETER NICHOLLS/REUTERS

The woman claimed that the bank treated her as equivalent to gender discrimination.

This case is likely to raise further questions about controls and procedures at Coutts, which happened to be at the center debanking scandal following the decision to close Nigel Farage's accounts.< /p>

The controversy began in June after Coutts, owned by the NatWest Group, said it would close the former Brexit campaigner's account without much notice.

< p>It was later revealed that Coutts closed Mr. Farage's accounts because his views were inconsistent with the bank's «values» and conflicted with his «stance as an inclusive organization». It also claimed that he was considered «xenophobic and racist».

Dame Alison Rose was forced to step down as CEO of the FTSE 100 lender last month after she admitted to being the source of the BBC's inaccurate story that Mr Farage's Coutts account was closed for commercial reasons. Mr. Flavel also resigned over the scandal.

Meanwhile, the woman involved in the family dispute case accused Coutts of violating data protection regulations and withholding information from her when she made the so-called request to access an item.

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Customers have the right to request the information held about them with an item access request, how Mr. Farage obtained a dossier detailing why he was de-banked .

In telephone conversations with the bank reviewed by The Telegraph, the woman's brother said Coutts told him he was considering taking her to the Court of Defense, a clear violation of data protection rules.

Senior. Coutts bankers also attempted to obtain personal information about the woman by asking her brother about her marital status and whether she had children, according to phone conversations.

The woman also alleged that Coutts withheld information from her after how she sent the subject an access request.

She later obtained previously undisclosed information about her affair with Coutts through the Financial Ombudsman, including phone records.

Nigel Farage Banking Scandal

Coutts' decision to close Mr. Farage's accounts was heavily criticized by the government. , and ministers promise to crack down on banks that unfairly expel customers.

Last week, Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, ordered the city's regulator to conduct a wide-ranging review and fine lenders who blacklist clients because of their political views.

In a letter to Nikhil Rathy, chief executive of Financial Conduct (FCA ), Mr. Hunt ordered the regulator to launch an urgent review of debanking operations to determine how widespread the problem is.

He said: “The FCA has the power to fine very large banks. sums of money if they find that this practice is widespread.

“I want to know if this is the case, and I want to know what they do with it.”

In the past This month, the government announced new laws that would require banks to give customers at least 90 days' notice if they want to close their accounts, as well as provide a clear explanation for the closure.

NatWest launched an independent review of Coutts, which will review cases of closure creditor accounts for the last two years.

A spokesman for Coutts said: “This has been a long and complicated case that has been going on for several years. The bank sought to act in the interests of the client.”