No. 1LondonMonday 2 November 2026Est. 2026

The Secret Banker

What the big banks charge, found from public information as best I could, with the source under every figure. And a Panel.

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Private banking, compared

Twenty two private banks on what they tell a prospective client before the first meeting. Minimums are the banks' own words on their own pages, read on 1 and 2 November 2026. Complaints are the FCA's firm-level data and cover the whole regulated entity, not the private bank alone. Fines are FCA and PRA penalties since 2021. Where a cell says Not published, the bank has published nothing. Noted, and scored.

Private bankingCapital marketsM&A advisoryDealsRankingsTransparency index
Most recent find£300k29Investecminimum income · read 2 Nov 2026
Cheapest door, sterling£100k25NatWest Premierstated minimum · read 1 Nov 2026
Dearest door, sterling£20m30Santander Privatestated minimum · read 1 Nov 2026
BankMinimum, as statedReadPublishes a fee scheduleComplaints per 1,000 accountsFines 2021 to 2026Score
Goldman Sachs$10m21 Nov 2026PartlyBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●●○
JPMorgan ChaseNot published1 Nov 2026Yes1.273None in the period●●●○○
Morgan StanleyNot published2 Nov 2026PartlyBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●○○○
Bank of America$250k41 Nov 2026PartlyBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●●○
Citigroup$5m51 Nov 2026PartlyBelow FCA threshold£74.2m67●●●○○
Barclays£3m81 Nov 2026Yes2.149£83.2m1011●●●●○
HSBC£1.5m121 Nov 2026Yes2.2613£127.6m1415●●●●○
UBSNot published2 Nov 2026No3.7616None in the period●●●○○
Deutsche BankNot published1 Nov 2026NoBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●○○
BNP Paribas€250k171 Nov 2026NoBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●●○
Coutts£3m11 Nov 2026Partly4.9818None in the period●●●●○
Lloyds Banking Group£250k191 Nov 2026Yes3.1620£90.7m21●●●●○
C. Hoare & CoNot published1 Nov 2026YesBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●○○
Arbuthnot Latham£750k221 Nov 2026YesBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●●●
WeatherbysNot published1 Nov 2026YesBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●○○
Hampden & CoNot published1 Nov 2026YesBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●○○
Schroders Personal Wealth£100k assets, for advice231 Nov 2026YesBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●●●
Santander Private£500k241 Nov 2026PartlyBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●●○
NatWest Premier£100k251 Nov 2026PartlyBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●●○
Investec£3m net worth262 Nov 2026YesBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●●○
Brown Shipley£1m271 Nov 2026YesBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●●●
Rathbones£150k281 Nov 2026PartlyBelow FCA thresholdNone in the period●●●●○

Score: a weighting of what is published, what it costs, the complaints record and the conduct record. The weights are on the methodology page. The Secret Banker's view of each bank is on its page. The table as a file: private-banking.csv.

Figures as published. Where none are published, the cell says so.

The Panel Six firms I deal with. Terms as discussed with me.

FirmMinimumIndicative feeRetainer
Harrowgate Lennox
A lobby people photograph, and a pitch team of eleven who rarely see it.
£1.35bn deal sizeP1IPO 3.84% to 4.69%P1£53,250 a month, creditedP1
Thornleigh Aubert
A long tradition of never quite saying no.
CHF 9mP2Discretionary 0.64% to 0.37% by tierP2None stated. The relationship is the retainer.P2
Lockridge Hartwell
American to the core and billing in quarter hours, including the quarter hour spent reading this.
$1.85bn deal sizeP3IPO 6.77% to 7.22%P3$92,750 a month, not creditedP3
Dunmore & Rook
Proudly independent, right up to the fee letter.
£150m deal sizeP4M&A 1.81% success feeP4£34,250 a month, credited against the success feeP4
Marchbank Private
A royal warrant, a brass plate and a door with the minimum on it.
£9mP5Discretionary 0.56% to 0.26% by tierP5Account fee £110 a monthP5
Linnet
The challenger, with a chatbot called Ned who is always available and occasionally right.
£400,000P60.29% platform fee, funds extraP6None. Ned does not charge for his time.P6