The Government\u2019s position is clear that financial institutions must not deny services to customers who are Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) solely on the basis of their PEP status, nor on the basis of their political beliefs.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 commits the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to conduct a review into financial institutions\u2019 adherence to their guidance on PEPs, and the appropriateness of that guidance, within twelve months of Royal Assent. This review will assess the compliance of FCA-regulated firms with their legal and regulatory obligations regarding the risk management and treatment of PEPs, as well as their relatives and known close associates, and the FCA will take action where it identifies serious failures. The FCA has contacted domestic PEPs seeking their input regarding their own treatment by financial institutions, and will publish the terms of reference for its review in September.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Government has also taken action through the Financial Services and Markets Act to commit the Treasury to amend the Money Laundering Regulations to distinguish explicitly between domestic and non-domestic PEPs in law. This amendment will make clear that, in the absence of other high-risk factors, domestic PEPs must be treated as lower risk than non-domestic PEPs and have a lesser degree of enhanced due diligence applied to them.<\/p>
<\/p>
Separately, there are existing regulations - specifically Regulation 18 of the Payment Accounts Regulations 2015 \u2013 which already require banks not to discriminate against any UK consumers based on their political opinions when accessing a payment account. The Chancellor has written to the FCA to request an urgent review into the matter of \u2018de-banking\u2019 more broadly. The FCA has agreed to undertake this review, and to share the evidence and findings with the Treasury.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4874", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrew Griffith"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Arundel and South Downs"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrew Griffith"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-09-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "195007"} , {"_value" : "195012"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-09-08T12:21:37.283Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2023-07-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Bank Services: Vetting"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Financial Conduct Authority\u2018s forthcoming review into financial institutions\u2019 adherence to the current guidance on Politically Exposed Persons will address the withdrawal of banking services to individuals due to lawfully held political, philosophical or religious beliefs.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1522", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Adam Holloway"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Gravesham"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Adam Holloway"} ], "uin" : "195010"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1654394", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1654394/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government\u2019s position is clear that financial institutions must not deny services to customers who are Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) solely on the basis of their PEP status, nor on the basis of their political beliefs.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 commits the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to conduct a review into financial institutions\u2019 adherence to their guidance on PEPs, and the appropriateness of that guidance, within twelve months of Royal Assent. This review will assess the compliance of FCA-regulated firms with their legal and regulatory obligations regarding the risk management and treatment of PEPs, as well as their relatives and known close associates, and the FCA will take action where it identifies serious failures. The FCA has contacted domestic PEPs seeking their input regarding their own treatment by financial institutions, and will publish the terms of reference for its review in September.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Government has also taken action through the Financial Services and Markets Act to commit the Treasury to amend the Money Laundering Regulations to distinguish explicitly between domestic and non-domestic PEPs in law. This amendment will make clear that, in the absence of other high-risk factors, domestic PEPs must be treated as lower risk than non-domestic PEPs and have a lesser degree of enhanced due diligence applied to them.<\/p>
<\/p>
Separately, there are existing regulations - specifically Regulation 18 of the Payment Accounts Regulations 2015 \u2013 which already require banks not to discriminate against any UK consumers based on their political opinions when accessing a payment account. The Chancellor has written to the FCA to request an urgent review into the matter of \u2018de-banking\u2019 more broadly. The FCA has agreed to undertake this review, and to share the evidence and findings with the Treasury.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4874", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Andrew Griffith"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Arundel and South Downs"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Andrew Griffith"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-09-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : [{"_value" : "195007"} , {"_value" : "195010"} ], "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-09-08T12:21:37.333Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2023-07-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Financial Services: Vetting"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the guidance by the Financial Conduct Authority on politically exposed persons, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of that guidance on financial institutions' (a) authority to withdraw services and (b) the freedom of expression of politically exposed persons.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1522", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Adam Holloway"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Gravesham"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Adam Holloway"} ], "uin" : "195012"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }