The Financial Times reports that Alison Rose’s resignation comes after Downing Street and the Treasury raised concerns about revelations that she had been the source of an inaccurate report about Farage’s personal finances.
NatWest boss Alison Rose resigns over Nigel Farage Coutts account row
A late update: Dame Alison Rose has stood down as the chief executive of NatWest Group, after admitting last night to inaccurately briefing the BBC’s Simon Jack about the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account.
In a statement released early on Wednesday morning, NatWest’s board announced that Rose has agreed by mutual consent to step down as Group Chief Executive with immediate effect.
NatWest Group chairman, Sir Howard Davies, said:
“The board and Alison Rose have agreed, by mutual consent, that she will step down as CEO of the NatWest Group. It is a sad moment.
“She has dedicated all her working life so far to NatWest and will leave many colleagues who respect and admire her.”
Paul Thwaite, chief executive of the bank’s commercial and institutional business, will take over for 12 months while NatWest seeks a permanent replacement.
Rose, who has run NatWest since 2019, said:
“I remain immensely proud of the progress the bank has made in supporting people, families and business across the UK, and building the foundations for sustainable growth.
My NatWest colleagues are central to that success, and so I would like to personally thank them for all that they have done.”
Rose’s resignation comes just a few hours after she admitted being the source of the controversial BBC story that said Farage had lost his Coutts account for commercial reasons, for which she apologised last night (see here).
It follows an emergency board meeting last night to determine her future, after NatWest had said Rose still had their full support.
Here’s our news story on Rose’s departure:
