Afternoon recap
Time for a recap of this afternoon’s events…
The head of NatWest’s private banking arm Coutts has resigned with immediate effect.
Peter Flavel became the second top executive to quit NatWest in a row over the closure of the account of former Ukip leader Nigel Farage.
Paul Thwaite, NatWest’s new interim CEO, said Flavel was leaving by mutual consent.
Thwaite said:
Whilst I will be personally sorry to lose Peter as a colleague, I believe this is the right decision for Coutts and the wider Group.
Flavel said he was taking “ultimate responsibility” for the bank’s treatment of Farage, after a report showed that “reputational risks” were a factor, along with commercial considerations, in the decision to closing his account.
Farage claimed that Flavel had been “asleep at the wheel” and had shown “an extraordinary kind of arrogance” by not getting in touch after receiving two emails about the situation.
These are the 2 emails I sent to Coutts CEO Peter Flavel, before going public on this story, that he completely ignored.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 27, 2023
An extraordinary kind of arrogance from a man asleep at the wheel. pic.twitter.com/D1zhZOqNyD
Senior bosses at NatWest Group will face scrutiny from shareholders tomorrow when the bank releases its latest financial results.
The UK government is the largest investor, with a 39% stake. And earlier today, Rishi Sunak declined to say whether he had confidence in NatWest’s chairman, Sir Howard Davies.
Sunak said his Government was taking “tough action” to protect the free speech, amid concerns that banks are dropping customers over their political views.
Asked by broadcasters on Wednesday if he had confidence in Davies, Sunak said:
“What I said right at the start of this was that it wasn’t right for people to be deprived of basic services like banking because of their views.
“This isn’t about any one individual, it’s about values – do you believe in free speech and not to be discriminated against because of your legally held views?
“Do you believe in privacy, particularly on matters as sensitive as your financial information? Those are the values and questions at stake here and that’s why I said what I did.”
Shares in NatWest have dropped again today, and just closed down 0.8% at 239.9p.
That takes their total losses over the last two days, since Alison Rose’s departure early on Wednesday morning, to around 4.5%.
That has knocked around £1bn off the market capitalisation of the bank, in which taxpayers own a 39% stake.
