The UK’s Labour party is reportedly severing its ties to the Co-op Bank, ending a relationship that goes back nearly a century.
The political party, forming the main opposition to the UK’s coalition government, is seeking to move loans worth over £1m ($1.7m) and current account facilities to the trade union-owned Unity Trust Bank.
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A Labour Party spokesperson said: "The Labour Party is constantly reviewing its financial arrangements and all decisions including any loan consolidations will be taken for commercial reasons."
If reports of a separation are correct, it will round off a year of controversy for the bank that saw it record a pre-tax loss of £1.3bn for 2013.
The bank’s former chairman, Paul Flowers, was also the centre of a sex and drugs scandal and is now facing drugs-related charges.
The relationship between the lender and the political party began in the 1920s, when the Co-operative Movement and Labour joined as political parties.
Although the Co-op has had a turbulent year, the split is not thought to be one-sided.
It is understood that the Co-op Bank, now 70% owned by American investors, wants to take up an apolitical position.
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