It will contact MPs, peers, senior civil servants and senior members of the armed forces to find out if they have been denied banking services.

The move is part of a planned review of how financial institutions treat PEPs, as set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023.

By law, firms are required to carry out extra checks on political figures, their families and associates when they use some financial services. This is because they are often more susceptible to corruption or bribery because of their influence.

The FCA has published guidance on this under the The Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) Regime and it is now considering if this needs to be  updated.  

The news follows on from the banking scandal last month which saw the CEO of NatWest Group, Alison Rose, step down from her position after admitting she was the source behind an inaccurate BBC inaccurate story regarding the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account.

Following this, the Government also stepped in and said it would introduce new rules over fears that banks are terminating accounts because they disagree with someone’s political beliefs.

These include the notice period to close an account increasing to 90 days, from 60, and banks having to spell out why they are terminating a bank account. 

The FCA also asked the biggest UK banks and building societies last week to give evidence of account closures by 25 August.

It said this review into PEPs is separate to its most recent request for account closures which it will report back on by mid-September.  

‘Keen to hear directly from PEPs’

A spokesperson for the FCA said: “We are reviewing how financial services firms have applied the Politically Exposed Persons regime and whether any changes are needed for UK PEPs. 

“We are keen to hear directly from UK PEPs on their experiences, including any problems they have encountered – so we’re proactively reaching out to parliamentarians and other UK PEPs at an early stage.  

“We will publish the full terms of reference for the review in September and report back by June next year.”