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Revolut has called on London’s High Court to throw out a lawsuit brought by the son-in-law of a late mining magnate, who claims the fintech group cancelled his account because of “malicious” claims against him.
The court on Wednesday heard an application to dismiss what Revolut alleged was “disproportionate” litigation brought by Ildar Uzbekov after it froze his money account in 2020.
The case comes amid scrutiny of how UK financial institutions deal with high-profile customers who may pose a reputational risk. Private bank Coutts last year dropped Nigel Farage, the former leader of the UK Independence and Brexit parties, having raised concerns about his political views. Dame Alison Rose, chief executive of Coutts’ parent NatWest, and Coutts chief Peter Flavel both stepped down in the ensuing scandal.
Uzbekov, whose father-in-law was the magnate Alexander Shchukin, said Revolut “stonewalled” him while his account was frozen and he “suffered significant distress and inconvenience” in dealing with the company.
Patrick Green KC, representing the Kazak-born British citizen, alleged in written submissions that Revolut closed his account unlawfully on the basis of “factual mistakes” and “spurious” claims.
The barrister said Uzbekov was seeking a “correction of the factual record” to “vindicate his reputation”.
Tony Singla KC, for Revolut, told the court that Revolut suspected that Uzbekov could have been involved in money laundering and that the company was “not required to investigate” the allegations.
He noted that Revolut was subject to several regulatory obligations “concerning anti-money laundering and financial crime”.
Singla said so-called debanking related to “free speech rights, for example concerning the expression of political views” and that was “entirely distinct” from Uzbekov’s claim.
He added that Uzbekov was not seeking financial damages “as he accepts that he suffered no loss” as a result of the account closure.
Green said in written arguments that sources on which Revolut’s money laundering concerns were based were not “credible”. He added that Revolut’s application to strike out Uzbekov’s claim was “without merit”.
A ruling on Revolut’s application will follow in due course.
Revolut’s account opening process has attracted scrutiny in the US, where the company is facing a class-action lawsuit over the way it handles biometric data collected through customers’ self-recorded identification videos.
A complaint filed to an Illinois court in November last year alleged that the company breached state privacy law by failing to appropriately disclose how it collects and stores this data, which prospective customers are asked to record in order to open accounts. Revolut plans to contest those allegations according to a person familiar with the situation.
The hearing comes as the fast-growing London-based fintech awaits an important decision on its UK banking license application, which it submitted three years ago and would give it a boost in its home market.
The payments group previously attracted scrutiny from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority about alleged failures to freeze money from accounts flagged as suspicious by the National Crime Agency.
Revolut plans to dispute those allegations in court, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Revolut declined to comment on both current lawsuits.
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