UK De-banking: More Than 140,000 Small Business Accounts Closed in Past Year

At least 140,000 of bank accounts held by small businesses have been closed by banks in the past year, the Treasury Committee said on Tuesday. The data are based on figures provided by eight major banks in the UK, including Barclays, HSBC, TSB, Lloyds, Santander, NatWest, Metro, and Handelsbanken, and amount to 2.7 percent of small business accounts. Committee Chairwoman Harriett Baldwin MP said it’s “startling” to discover lenders’ readiness to close accounts “with little or no notice.” According to the banks’ responses to Ms. Baldwin, most of the accounts were closed over account holders’ failure to provide updated information when requested or over proof or suspicion of fraud or financial crime....