Finance sector urged to act on debanking

[Conor O'Gorman]

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its long-awaited report on debanking. BASC provided evidence to the investigation about how shooting was being discriminated against based on feedback from clubs and businesses.

The FCA is clear in its recommendations that banks should not be denying or terminating accounts on spurious or unfairly biased grounds or for discriminatory reasons. The regulator expects firms to ensure their decisions are based on reasonable and properly considered grounds, including where they are citing ‘reputational risk’ as a basis for account denial or termination.

The FCA is now working with the banks on the implementation of these recommendations so if your shooting club or business has experienced unexplained banking service refusals or account closures since 4 September 2024 it’s really important that we know and act on that so please email conor.ogorman@basc.org.uk

The following article in today's Shooting Times explains in more detail

Finance sector urged to act on debanking - ShootingUK

Last year “debanking” was added as a noun to the Collins English Dictionary, defined as “the act of depriving a person of banking facilities”. That was when debanking was frequently in the news and I was receiving weekly updates from shooting clubs and businesses that had been refused new...

www.shootinguk.co.uk

 

[RJD]

Several options provided for a BASC scheme, no one at BASC could be bothered to follow up… must be fake news.

 

[The Singing Stalker]

Several options provided for a BASC scheme, no one at BASC could be bothered to follow up… must be fake news.

Why should BASC provide a scheme? That is not what they are about. What about all the other orgs?

 

[RJD]

Because, they specifically wanted to provide a solution , but then decided it’s better to bleat about the problem as that requires zero effort

 

[The Singing Stalker]

They are not a bank. Anything in the financial sector requires massive amounts of money and specialist people.
I await for someone on here who does work in the financial sector to correct me as I don’t work in that sector.

 

[Steve Q]

Because, they specifically wanted to provide a solution , but then decided it’s better to bleat about the problem as that requires zero effort

Another BASC basher!
Everyone wants a solution to de-banking, BASC do what they can, but have not established "The British Shooting Bank", providing FREE banking no doubt!
Let me guess....You are not a member because they don't do anything for shooting!
Unless you have a solution yourself, let them do what they can, and keep quiet.

 

[RJD]

They are not a bank. Anything in the financial sector requires massive amounts of money and specialist people.
I await for someone on here who does work in the financial sector to correct me as I don’t work in that sector.

As you asked .. just to correct you, ( I work in the sector ) several options were put forward where the costs were paid by my team to help support the affected sector, and BASC did nothing.

 

[RJD]

Another BASC basher!
Everyone wants a solution to de-banking, BASC do what they can, but have not established "The British Shooting Bank", providing FREE banking no doubt!
Let me guess....You are not a member because they don't do anything for shooting!
Unless you have a solution yourself, let them do what they can, and keep quiet.

If you had read my post, rather than blindly leaping to BASC defense, you would see that I provided at costs to me several solutions and your beloved quango did NOTHING. It’s much better for them and you to keep problems rather than solve them, after all, if you problem goes away what worth is left ? So, I suggest you keep quiet

 

[Steve Q]

If you had read my post, rather than blindly leaping to BASC defense, you would see that I provided at costs to me several solutions and your beloved quango did NOTHING. It’s much better for them and you to keep problems rather than solve them, after all, if you problem goes away what worth is left ? So, I suggest you keep quiet

BASC is not a QUANGO (Quasi Non Governmental Organisation) and has zero links to Government.
Just because YOU offered a few solutions does not mean BASC is obliged to take them up.
Did you offer your solutions to other organisations? I assume that since no-one took them up, either you did not, or multiple organisations turned them down. Either way it says a great deal about those solutions.

But you are right, I should and will keep quiet by signing off AS permanently, so feel free to criticise me to your hearts content!

 

[Conor O'Gorman]

Several options provided for a BASC scheme, no one at BASC could be bothered to follow up… must be fake news.

I find this and the other comments rather bizarre and can only put it down to you having a bad day plus getting the wrong end of the stick at your end. I was hoping to bottom this out by PM but have not heard back from you and I don't wish to leave your comments unanswered so just to explain for others reading this that in March we spoke and you recommended I contact someone who in turn knew other people in a neo bank with a potential online banking product that might be a good fit for some shooting businesses. The very same day I followed up with that person and continued regular contact up until August and informed several businesses that there might be a suitable product for them to look into (without any endorsement of said product) and as far as I know there has been no uptake of the product so far. I do hope it turns out to be a viable online banking option for some shooting businesses moving forward. However, if you have a direct stake in the product (you mention incurring costs in your comments above which is news to me) that comes across as a lot of smoke and mirrors and given what I regard as unprofessional comments on a public forum, then it makes me hesitant to have anything further to do with you or your contact.

 

[long_range_rob]

The banks taking the moral high ground is the very definition of hypocrisy.

Massive bailout by us due to their incompetence.

Barclays proven to be money laundering.

Huge bonuses for just doing their job.

Mis-selling insurance.

The list is endless

 

[Conor O'Gorman]

The banks taking the moral high ground is the very definition of hypocrisy.

Massive bailout by us due to their incompetence.

Barclays proven to be money laundering.

Huge bonuses for just doing their job.

Mis-selling insurance.

The list is endless

The banks know they must improve their decision-making processes and communications, and they know from the FCA’s interim and final reports that they have been unfairly treating the shooting sector.

There are many misconceptions about the recreational shooting sector that need to be disentangled from both banks and customers perspective and we are offering support to the financial sector to improve its understanding of recreational shooting, so that its decision-making processes are revised to reduce the risk of inappropriate debanking. Industry wide solutions won't be found overnight but progress is being made - for example, I have not had any reports of debanking in our sector following the Shooting Times article last week.

Debanking of the shooting sector is not unique to the UK and we are also working with the World Forum on Shooting Activities on communications with the financial sector at EU and international level.

 

[long_range_rob]

We aren’t alone in the debanking issue. It seems there are all sorts that fall foul of Bankings virtue signalling.