E80: De-banked SMEs: How 140,000 small businesses ended up on a banking blacklist

Some pretty shocking statistics surfaced recently from an enquiry by the UK’s Treasury Committee looking into access to finance.Obtaining data from eight UK banks - the committee found that more than 140,000 accounts held by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were forcibly closed in the past year. Following hot on the heels of the Nigel Farage Coutts drama – as well as the country’s recent dip into a recession – these figures raise concerns about how the backbone of the UK economy is being served by the banking industry.So is this a real issue? Or a storm in a teacup?In the latest episode of The Laundry – our expert host, Marit Rødevand, is joined by James Nurse, Managing Director of Fintrail, and Neil Donovan, Senior Associate at Ashurst, The panel discuss: Why thousands of businesses are being de-banked, the legitimacy of compliance concerns raised by banks, and how we make the system better at spotting bad actors and front organisations.Producer: Matthew Dunne-MilesEngineers: Dominic Delargy, Nicholas Thon____________________________________The Laundry podcast: Dive deep into the intricacies of financial crime, AML (anti-money laundering), compliance, sanctions, and the ever-evolving landscape of financial regulation.Hosted by Marit Rødevand and Fredrik Riiser – this podcast features renowned experts from banking, fintech, compliance, and investigative journalism.Together, they shed light on the industry's trending topics, analyse mainstream news through a compliance-focused lens, and connect the fight against financial crime to its real-world consequences and ramifications.The Laundry is proudly produced by Strise, an AML Automation Cloud.Get in touch at: [email protected] to our newsletter, Fresh Laundry, here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.