Reference Case Number: FOI12053
Freedom of Information: Right to know request:
Please provide debanking data for 2024.
- How many accounts were closed?
- Please provide this number broken down by institution.
- Please provide the equivalent figures for each calendar year from 2015.
- Please provide updated figures featured in this article: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-12351619/Banks-shut-1-000-accounts-day.html[1]
FCA response:
We would like to explain that we do not routinely collect data tracking the volume / number of bank accounts which are closed by banks. However, the article referenced in your request relates to the information we collect through REP-CRIM (Annual Financial Crime Data Return) from firms in response to the specific question ‘Please provide the number of customer relationships refused or exited for financial crime reasons during the reporting period’.
We expect firms to include data where ‘the firm ceased to do business where financial crime was the principal driver behind the decision’. Please note that ‘Relationships exited’ also covers criminal behaviour by the customer or client where such behaviour has a financial element, e.g. benefits fraud.
We have updated the table shown in the referenced article in your request with the data for 2022/23 and 2023/24:
| Year | Customer Relationships Exited due to Financial Crime reasons |
|---|---|
| 2016/2017 | 45,091 |
| 2017/2018 | 72,699 |
| 2018/2019 | 189,801 |
| 2019/2020 | 229,350 |
| 2020/2021 | 340,133 |
| 2021/2022 | 343,350 |
| 2022/2023 | 317,290 |
| 2023/2024 | 408,218 |
The data for this is sourced from REP-CRIM and is submitted by approximately 243 firms from within the Retail and Wholesale Bank portfolios that we supervise. However, we are unable to provide data at the individual firm level as this constitutes ‘confidential information’ for the purposes of section 348 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), which the FCA has received in the discharge of its public functions. We are therefore exempted from the duty to disclose this information under section 44 of FOIA. For more information on why this exemption applies, please see Annex A below.
REP-CRIM was only introduced in 2016/2017 and therefore we cannot go back as far as 2015. Please note that figures for the first reporting year may not reflect the true picture as the firms were asked to submit the returns on a best endeavour basis allowing enough time to implement appropriate technological solutions or changes in order, where required, to provide the information requested.
Further confirmation of the FCA allowing firms to submit their first return on a best endeavour basis is set out in section 1.17 of the paper ‘Financial Crime Reporting: feedback on Chapter 6 of CP15/42 and final rules’ [PS16/19: Financial Crime Reporting: feedback on Chapter 6 of CP15/42 and final rules (fca.org.uk)[2]]. Section 2.7 details feedback from firms regarding the implementation of technological solutions or changes in order to provide the necessary information.