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20 June 2025
Issue: 8121 / Categories: Legal News , Banking , Financial services litigation , Regulatory , Consumer
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NLJ this week: Debanking reforms mark a significant shift ahead for firms

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The rules and regulations on debanking (where a bank terminates its relationship with a customer) are due to change next year. In this week’s NLJ, David Hamilton, partner at Howard Kennedy, sets out the likely changes and explores the implications for payment services firms

Hamilton writes: ‘Since Nigel Farage’s public spat with Coutts Bank in 2023, the issue of debanking has drawn sustained public, political and regulatory scrutiny, becoming emblematic of broader concerns around financial exclusion and institutional accountability.’

The amended Payment Services and Payment Accounts (Contract Termination) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (PSPA Regulations), due to apply from 28 April 2026, aim to strengthen protections for consumers and micro-enterprises when payment firms ‘debank’ them. Consequently, Hamilton says, payment services firms may be prompted to adopt a ‘more conservative risk appetite’. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

WSP Solicitors—David Ashcroft & Jessica O’Shea

WSP Solicitors—David Ashcroft & Jessica O’Shea

Commercial property and child law teams expand with senior hires

Duxton Hill Chambers—Lucas Bastin KC & Joshua Hiew

Duxton Hill Chambers—Lucas Bastin KC & Joshua Hiew

Set expands London and Singapore offering with senior international disputes hires

Gilson Gray—Gregor Duthie & Stephen Forsyth

Gilson Gray—Gregor Duthie & Stephen Forsyth

Firm strengthens real estate and litigation teams with partner promotions

NEWS
Uber has built a formidable strategy for insulating itself from liability for drivers’ conduct, but the legal terrain differs sharply between the US and England and Wales
The Civil Justice Council’s review of Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 could mark the end of what one commentator calls an ‘outdated’ and overly technical regime governing solicitor-client fee disputes
The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 marks a constitutional watershed by severing the centuries-old link between hereditary titles and automatic membership of the upper chamber
Artificial intelligence, proportionality and public decision-making are under increasing judicial scrutiny, according to the latest public law round-up from Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
Families relying on informal agreements over property ownership could face costly consequences if disputes arise, the High Court has warned
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