Tens of thousands of Britons who live in Europe are to be stripped of their UK bank accounts and credit cards within weeks, because the government has failed to negotiate post-Brexit rules.
A number of the biggest British banks, including Lloyds, Barclays and the Queen’s bank, Coutts, have started writing to expatriates to say they will stop serving them when the withdrawal agreement ends at 11pm on December 31.
Without a continuation of crucial pan-European banking rules, known as passporting, it will become illegal for UK banks to provide for British customers in the EU without applying for new banking licences.
As each of the 27 member states has a hotchpotch of different rules, it is a bureaucratic nightmare for institutions, and some are deciding