Boris Johnson’s brother-in-law Ivo Dawnay says he was blocked from using a currency exchange abroad

Boris Johnson’s brother-in-law was blocked from using a currency exchange abroad in the latest example of figures apparently being denied access to money for political reasons.

Ivo Dawnay, the husband of Mr Johnson’s sister Rachel, discovered he had been designated a ‘politically exposed person’ (PEP) during a trip to Mexico.

The journalist and former director of anti-Brexit group Best for Britain said the label prevented him changing money abroad despite his short-lived and minor forays into politics. Other high-profile PEPs, including Nigel Farage, have claimed their bank accounts have been shut down without explanation.

City minister Andrew Griffith has ordered the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to fast-track a probe into the matter.

Mr Dawnay wrote in the Spectator: ‘Nigel Farage and I don’t have too much in common beyond liking a pint and a cigar. Yet I now discover a link: we are both PEPs. Such a handle may not be a total surprise to Nigel. But it certainly was to me – especially as I found out from an official at the bureau de change in the baggage hall of Mexico City airport.

Mr Dawnay wrote in the Spectator: ‘Nigel Farage and I don’t have too much in common beyond liking a pint and a cigar. Yet I now discover a link: we are both PEPs’

‘And then I finally understood. Yet another fine thing Boris has got me into.

‘The sins of the brothers-in-law, it seems, will always be with me, heaped upon my head at the exchange counters of the globe.’

Staff said that Mr Dawnay’s status meant he could not use government exchange bureaus, and instead had to go through unofficial routes.

Mr Dawnay said: ‘Yet another fine thing Boris (pictured) has got me into. The sins of the brothers-in-law, it seems, will always be with me, heaped upon my head at the exchange counters of the globe’

Concerns have been raised over whether PEPs are having their accounts shut because of disagreements with lenders themselves. 

Banks have been urged to strike a balance between assessing risk and denying access to services.

Mr Griffith told the FCA: ‘The Government is clear that domestic PEPs should be treated in a manner which is in line with their risk, and that banks should not be closing individuals’ accounts solely due to their status as a PEP.’