EU laws which are said to let banks close accounts over their political views are set to be scrapped, in plans being looked at by ministers.
The City watchdog has been ordered by treasury officials to urgently review the rules concerning “politically exposed persons” (PEPs.)
This comes after Nigel Farage claimed he had had his bank account with Coutts closed, and was denied accounts at seven other banking groups.
He claimed this was a result of him being a PEP.
The rules, which mean financial institutions have to perform “enhanced checks” on people in public life, were passed into UK law under a Brussels regulation.
Mr Farage has claimed that he is effectively being barred from public life as a result of the issue.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch are said to be keen to amend the regulations.
People familiar with Coutts said it was a “commercial” decision to close Mr Farage’s account.
They added: “The criteria for holding a Coutts account are clear from the bank’s website.”
Coutts requires its customers to borrow or invest at least £1million with the bank or hold £3million in savings.
But many customers of the prestigious bank said they fell below financial thresholds but, unlike Mr Farage, have not been threatened with account closure.
While Mr Farage did not dispute the fact that he had fallen below Coutts’s financial threshold, he told the BBC: “They didn’t have a problem with it for the last 10 years.”
The TV personality said he contacted seven other banks and was denied accounts.
Last week, he claimed that others who share a similar worldview to him face being treated in the same “stressful” way.
Mr Farage said the issue “may well fundamentally affect my future career going on from here and whether I could even stay living in this country.”
He said: “I have been with the same banking group since 1980. I’ve had my personal accounts with them since that date, and my business accounts right through the 1990s when I worked in the City of London and in recent years too.”
