An account ultimately owned by the serial killer Rose West was kept open by the Co-operative Bank after the “ethical” lender reviewed her membership, it has emerged.
The decision was reportedly made while the Co-op Bank was taking stock of a raft of accounts held by customers with criminal records nearly a decade ago.
The lender is said to have been concerned about the potential public reaction if it was leaked that West had been one of its customers, according to the Telegraph.
It is understood, however, that the Co-op Bank decided closing the account would cause problems for West’s daughter, who was the main user after West was jailed for a series of murders in 1995.
West, a mother of eight children, was convicted in 1995 of murdering 10 young girls and women, including her eldest daughter, Heather, 16, and her stepdaughter Charmaine, eight. Her husband Fred, a builder, killed himself in prison while awaiting trial on 12 murder charges. West, now 69, is serving a life sentence in HMP New Hall, West Yorkshire.
The Co-op Bank said: “We would not discuss individual customer account details.”
The decision to keep West’s account open was reportedly taken a year after its former chair Paul Flowers – the “crystal Methodist” – pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine, crystal meth and ketamine in 2014.
There are growing concerns over whether banks have been making appropriate decisions over who is able to hold, open and maintain an account.
The issue has gained fresh attention after former Ukip leader Nigel Farage launched a public campaign amid a dispute with Coutts, a private lender for the ultra-wealthy, which had planned to shut his accounts.
Farage obtained documents from Coutts showing that, while he had been below the bank’s “commercial criteria” for some time – referring to its requirement to hold £1m in investments or loans, or £3m in savings – the decision to shut his accounts was also based on concerns that his “xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views” posed a risk to its reputation.
Banks are not allowed to shut accounts or deny services because of customers’ political views or beliefs.
The scandal led to resignation of Alison Rose, the chief executive of Coutts’s owner, NatWest, after she admitted being the source of a BBC story suggesting his account was closed for commercial reasons alone. The chief executive of Coutts, Peter Flavel, was asked to leave over the mishandling of the situation days later.
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has since accelerated a review into the matter, and ordered 20 banks to confirm how many customer accounts have recently been closed, suspended or denied, and explain the reasons why those services have been blocked.
The FCA is expected to publish its analysis by mid-September.
The Co-op Bank, which has about 2.8 million customers, traces its roots back to the late 1800s, when it was meant to provide financial services to the wider co-operative movement in Britain.
While the bank has since separated from the Co-operative Group – having been taken over by hedge funds in a £700m rescue deal in 2017 – and no longer counts itself as a member-owned organisation, it has marketed itself as an ethical bank, with policies aimed at having a positive impact on environmental and social issues.
