Within Nigel Farage’s interview on Radio 4 was a comment about the broader issue of AML legislation impacting small businesses, with accounts being closed down by the banks. This is the same issue which is affecting trustees, who are currently being excluded from high street banking due to the perceived risk in operating trustee accounts.

While individuals in the UK still have a right to hold a basic bank account, which the offer of a basic NatWest account appears to have fulfilled, this doesn’t extend to other non-standard banking facilities, leaving trustees in a difficult position. While some banks are still providing a service, they typically only want to engage for minimum deposit levels or through a regulated intermediary as an extra line of defence, leaving small value trusts and estates without an effective retail banking solution.

Now that Mr Farage has stepped into the wider issue of AML and banking, there is hope that this might now shine a spotlight on the issues more generally.