Closing summary: Farage controversy rumbles on after NatWest chief resigns
The controversy over the closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts bank account has done for Alison Rose, who resigned as NatWest chief executive after admitting she discussed the case with a BBC reporter. Yet it appears the discomfort for NatWest Bank is not over.
The information commissioner has said he will look into a complaint, following media reports of NatWest Bank sharing personal financial information about Nigel Farage with the BBC.
And some shareholders have – anonymously, so far – suggested that the bank’s long-serving chair, Howard Davies, may also need to go.
For his part, Farage, the former right-wing politician turned broadcaster, has called for the whole board of NatWest to be replaced, plus the chief executive of its Coutts subsidiary (while praising the government for intervening on Tuesday night shortly before Rose’s resignation).
Even if replacing the whole board is unlikely, the forced departure of a FTSE 100 chief executive is undoubtedly a major moment.
In other business news today:
Shares in Rolls-Royce have risen to their highest since the start of the coronavirus pandemic after it surprised investors with a big jump in expected profits on the back of high demand in its jet engine and defence businesses.
Heathrow airport has said it remains loss-making despite having some of its busiest days on record during the first half of the year as travel demand continued to bounce back from the Covid crisis.
ChatGPT developer OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft and Google, the owner of the UK-based DeepMind, four of the most influential companies in artificial intelligence, have announced the formation of an industry body to oversee safe development of the most advanced models.
The online health and beauty retail platform THG has emerged as the unlikely possible buyer of struggling London the free newspaper City AM.
Energy suppliers could be forced to keep customer service lines open on evenings and weekends this winter under rules proposed by the regulator for Great Britain to help struggling customers.
You can continue to follow our live coverage from around the world universe:
In UK politics, Rishi Sunak appears at infected blood inquiry amid criticism over government compensation delays
In extraterrestrial news, the US Congress is to examine claims government is harboring alien space craft
In the US, Republicans expected to roast homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in House hearing as they edge towards impeachment
In our coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU is to ban exports of battlefield equipment to Belarus, and Ukraine will spend $1bn making drones
Thanks as ever for following our coverage on the live blog today, and please do join the inimitable Graeme Wearden for more tomorrow morning. JJ
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has also written to the main British banking lobby group, UK Finance, to “remind them of responsibilities on information they hold”, it said.
Banks have a duty to uphold data protection laws while holding large amounts of sensitive information, the ICO said.
John Edwards, the UK’s information commissioner, said:
I have written to the banks today to remind them of their responsibilities to the public. Banks should not be holding inaccurate information, they should not be using information in a way that is unduly unexpected, and they should not be holding any more information than is necessary.
Even the information banks gather around politically exposed persons must follow the law. We are working with HM Treasury, who set the rules in this area, and with the Financial Conduct Authority, who oversee those rules.
Data watchdog to investigate complaint after NatWest boss discussed Nigel Farage details
The UK’s information commissioner has said it will investigate a complaint, after reports that NatWest shared personal financial information about Nigel Farage with the BBC.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it would follow normal processes with regards to an unspecified complaint, and would give the organisation involved the opportunity to respond.
The ICO, which oversees UK data protection, did not say who had raised the complaint, although it did say that Nigel Farage’s experience showed the importance of rules allowing individuals to request their personal data held by companies.
John Edwards, the commissioner, said:
The banking duty of confidentiality is over a hundred years old, and it is clear that it would not permit the discussion of a customer’s personal information with the media.
We trust banks with our money and with our personal information. Any suggestion that this trust has been betrayed will be concerning for a bank’s customers, and for regulators like myself.
On the complaint raised with the ICO, Edwards added:
This case is out of the ordinary in terms of its profile, but it is important that we follow our usual processes and procedures. This means that an organisation would be given a chance to respond to a complaint before the ICO gets involved.
Updated
The FTSE 100 is down by 0.6% today – not helped by the decline in bank share prices following Lloyds’s profits drop and the resignation of Alison Rose from NatWest (which is now down 4%).
But at the other end there has been a really notable move for a FTSE 100 company: Rolls-Royce shares have soared by 18%. The yellow vertical line on the right-hand side of this five-year graph shows the move.
Shares in Rolls-Royce have risen to their highest since the start of the coronavirus pandemic after it surprised investors with a big jump in expected profits on the back of high demand in its jet engine and defence businesses.
The FTSE 100 engineering firm said its civil aerospace and defence units had reported higher sales and “cost efficiencies” that improved profitability, in an unscheduled trading update on Wednesday morning.
Rolls-Royce’s chief executive, Tufan Erginbilgic, took over at the start of the year with a mandate to raise its profits, which had lagged behind competitors before pandemic travel restrictions caused a dramatic slump in its earnings.
You can read the full report from yours truly here:
THG emerges as unlikely suitor for free newspaper City AM
The online health and beauty retail platform THG has emerged as the unlikely possible buyer of struggling London the free newspaper City AM.
The newspaper, which distributes 70,000 copies a day targeting financial workers, put itself up for sale at the start of this month. This week it was reported that it was close to collapsing into administration.
London-listed THG – formerly known as the Hut Group and the owner of retail sites including LookFantastic, Cult Beauty and Myprotein – is in advanced talks to buy City AM, as first reported by Sky News’s City editor, Mark Kleinman, who writes a column for the freesheet.
It is understood that the purchase, if it goes ahead, could be announced later on Wednesday.
City AM’s staff are expected to be kept on, and it is understood that the newspaper would retain its editorial independence.
You can read the full report here:
The departure of Dame Alison Rose from NatWest Group with immediate effect further thins the ranks of an already very select group: female FTSE 100 chief executives.
The remaining nine chief executives are, by our count:
Margherita Della Valle, chief executive of Vodafone
Debra Crew at the world’s biggest spirits maker Diageo
Amanda Blanc at the insurer Aviva
Dame Emma Walmsley at the drugmaker GSK
Jette Nygaard-Andersen at the gambling firm Entain
Liv Garfield at the water company Severn Trent
Jennie Daly at the housebuilder Taylor Wimpey
Milena Mondini de Focatiis at the insurer Admiral
Louise Beardmore, at United Utilities, the UK’s largest listed water company
There are also two female chairs in the index’s investment trusts: F&C’s Beatrice Holland, and Pershing Square’s Anne Farlow. Alison Brittain retired from Whitbread in February, while Fiona McBain left the chair of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust in March.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor, an online share trading platform, said:
As the first woman to take the top job at one of the big four UK banks back in 2019, this is a sad moment for female representation and means that the small handful of women leaders within FTSE 100 companies just got smaller. She was a role model to many and a champion of diversity and inclusion. But clearly her discussions with a journalist about Farage breach client confidentiality and mean her role as CEO is no longer tenable.
Morningstar published a handy analysis in March. The numbers have shifted slightly, but the message is still much the same:
There are six Andrews or Andys, six Simons, four Davids, and five Stephens or Steves. There are almost as many Andrews and Simons as female chief executives.
Please do @ me on Twitt… sorry, X if I’ve missed any.
Updated
The controversy surrounding NatWest’s closure of Nigel Farage’s accounts have hurt public trust in the banking sector, bosses said, after they were summoned to a meeting by the City minister on Wednesday.
The comments came following a virtual meeting of 19 UK banking bosses, including Barclays UK’s Matt Hammerstein, HSBC UK’s Ian Stuart, and NatWest’s CEO of retail banking David Lindbert, “to discuss the importance of protecting lawful freedom of expression for customers accessing banking services.”
It also came after the Treasury announced reforms to the notice and explanations customers receive on bank account closures. The changes, which came in reaction to the Farage controversy, will require banks to explain why they are shutting customer accounts - except in cases where it clashes with financial crime investigations - and give 90 days notice before shutting accounts.
The Treasury also raised the issue of checks on politicians and their family members, which is being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the City regulator. The Treasury said in its briefing that:
The importance of proportionate implementation of requirements around Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) was raised. The minister said that he fully supported the FCA’s current review in this area, running alongside the Treasury’s planned legislative changes, and encouraged all to work with the Treasury and the FCA at pace on this important matter.
The economic secretary will be holding further such sessions with the remaining industry leaders in the future whilst officials will be holding working groups with participants of the sector to implement the reforms and offer practical guidance.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) was also in attendance at the briefing. It comes amid growing concerns that the reforms could have damaging consequences for fighting financial crime.
Bank bosses tell government NatWest controversy has 'damaged trust'
Bank bosses have told the government that the controversy over the closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts bank account has damaged trust in the sector.
Andrew Griffith, economic secretary to the Treasury, this morning met UK banking leaders to “discuss the importance of protecting lawful freedom of expression for customers accessing banking services”, the Treasury said in a readout from the meeting.
The Treasury said:
Attendees from the sector acknowledged that recent events had impacted upon public trust for the whole sector and expressed their clear commitment to government policy on account closure and to act quickly to restore confidence.
All participants committed to the principle of non-discrimination based on lawful freedom of expression, and to bringing their policies in line with the planned government reforms where needed as soon as possible, even anticipating the new regulations where possible to do so. They also committed to working constructively with government, law enforcement, and the FCA to enable effective implementation.
The attendees were:
Matt Hammerstein, CEO – Barclays
Ian Stuart, CEO – HSBC
Philip Robinson, Managing Director (Personal Current Accounts and Payments) – Lloyds Bank
Debbie Crosbie, CEO – Nationwide
David Lindberg, CEO (Retail Banking) – NatWest
Mike Regnier, CEO – Santander
Sheldon Mills, Executive Director (Consumers and Competition) – Financial Conduct Authority
James Babbage – National Crime Agency
NatWest shares are still down by 3.3% – which now makes the bank the biggest faller on the FTSE 100.
Yet it should also be noted that Lloyds is also down by 3%. That will almost certainly be due to the fall in profits and gloom over the outlook at the bank.
From the point of view of investment analysts, the Nigel Farage bank account controversy could “cast a shadow over share price performance in the near term”, said Gary Greenwood of Shore Capital, an investment bank.
Overall, this is a very sad end to what had up to now been a productive period of leadership for Ms Rose, during which the operational and financial performance of the Group had significantly improved, albeit with the more recent help from a tailwind of rising interest rates.
He said the bank “remains an undervalued stock”. He has a price targe of £2.51 on the shares, compared to its £2.42 price on Wednesday.
Alison Rose has reportedly been kicked off Rishi Sunak’s revamped business council – which only launched last week.
The Daily Telegraph reported that a No 10 spokesman said:
Following her resignation as CEO of NatWest Group, the government has confirmed that Alison Rose is no longer a member of the prime minister’s business council.
Many MPs or their families have been turned down by banks because of “politically exposed persons” (PEP) rules, the policing minister, Chris Philp, has said.
“It is not spoken about much but if you look at almost any member of parliament they will have had an experience like this, I think the Nigel Farage case is an extreme one, but I’m afraid it’s not unique,” Philp told Sky News on Wednesday.
Asked if he had faced difficulties accessing financial services, Philp said his family had, but declined to go into detail.
You can read more here:
MPs to investigate banks withdrawing accounts
Cross-party MPs from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fair Business Banking have announced that they are launching an investigation into the scale and practice of banks freezing, withdrawing or withholding bank accounts, following the NatWest saga.
The APPG is asking companies, individuals and banking professionals to come forward with case studies about how and why banking facilities might be denied and what impact this is may be having on businesses and the wider economy.
The investigation is being launched with support from City law firm Humphries Kerstetter LLP.
William Wragg, Tory MP and co-chair of the APPG, said:
The banking industry holds a unique position in our economy, sitting between a service provider and a utility company. This position comes with unique responsibilities, to support economic activity but also to fight financial crime.
Navigating what can be competing priorities is not easy and is therefore something that merits input from a wide variety of players, something we are calling for today.
Keir Starmer says Alison Rose was right to resign as NatWest boss
Labour leader Keir Starmer has said Alison Rose had to resign as NatWest boss after discussing Nigel Farage’s banking details with a BBC reporter.
Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, Starmer said nobody should be refused banking services on account of their political views, the Guardian’s Andrew Sparrow reports.
NatWest got this one wrong. And that’s why Alison Rose had to resign.
Asked if he felt sorry for Nigel Farage, Starmer said:
Yeah, he shouldn’t have had his personal details revealed like that. It doesn’t matter who you are, that’s a general rule.
I certainly don’t think anybody should be refused banking services because of their political views, whoever they are.
Asked if banks had too much power when it comes to individuals, he said:
I’m surprised to hear these stories of banks taking into account political views, if indeed they are. I don’t know that we’ve got to the bottom of this. But that shouldn’t happen and certainly shouldn’t be a reason for refusing someone banking services.
Alison Rose is “personable, engaging and otherwise competent,” writes the Guardian’s Nils Pratley. “But her position was untenable. She had to go.”
The Farage farrago also raises questions for NatWest’s board, and its chair, Howard Davies, he writes. (Farage himself has called for Coutts chief executive Peter Flavel to be removed as well as the entire NatWest board.)
The central issue is the breach of confidentiality, Nils Pratley writes:
Can Rose say in all honesty that she would have looked leniently on a NatWest employee in similar circumstances? And could the board of NatWest claim the same? Unlikely.
That is the central point in the latest chapter of this bizarre tale. The wider affair has many layers – such as banks’ obligation to treat customers fairly if they wish to close accounts – but the angle specific to Rose was about confidentiality. If NatWest’s privacy policy is as strict as it is presented, it has to be seen to apply to all employees. A junior member of staff would expect to lose his or her job. In expressing its “full confidence” in Rose on Tuesday evening, the NatWest board and its chair, Sir Howard Davies, looked as if they were giving the chief executive special treatment.
If Rose was naive in briefing the BBC, the board of NatWest was doubly so in thinking she could survive without the backing of the chancellor and Downing Street. When your bank is 39% owned by the state, you have to carry political support when the stakes are this high. It is astonishing that Davies, a former regulator and one of the FTSE 100’s most experienced chairs, seemingly ploughed on regardless. Rose and the board were undermined within hours by reports of concerns from the Treasury and No 10, leading to the U-turn in the middle of the night.
You can read today’s piece in full here:
And you can also read Nils’s thoughts from last week here:
Darren Jones, the Labour MP who leads the business select committee, has said the government only got involved in the NatWest row because of “the power Farage seems to have over the Tories”.
He said that Alison Rose “did something wrong”, but contrasted the government intervention in the Farage row with the lack of action in other corporate scandals – notably at the Post Office, which is 100% owned by the government.
Jones also cited the examples of the chief executives of P&O Ferries (which sacked its workers without consultation), Avro Energy (which collapsed), Royal Mail (which has been roiled by disputes between workers and leaders), and Thames Water (which built up debts before nearing collapse) as times when government intervention would have been warranted.
I don’t question that Alison Rose did something wrong.
— Darren Jones MP (@darrenpjones) July 26, 2023
I question why the PM got involved.
Because we own 39% of NatWest?
We own 100% of the Post Office.
Has the PM told the CEO to pay back bonuses based on false accounts?
Or asked him to resign?
No.
Spot the difference? https://t.co/ulCT3qLcmU
Grant Shapps calls for banks to ease political exposure tests
Energy minister Grant Shapps has said that banks should stop carrying out politically exposed person (PEP) tests on politicians and their family members, adding to the calls for changes in how banks check clients.
Shapps on Wednesday morning said that the tests, which are in place because of a heightened risk of corruption for politicians from around the world and those with close connections, had gone too far.
As someone referenced in the Coutts dossier used to outrageously remove banking facilities from Farage, I welcome the NatWest/Coutts CEO stepping down. However, it's equally important banks stop applying political (PEP) tests to people (& families) opening new bank accounts too.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) July 26, 2023
It is a fairly unusual situation for politicians to be concerned about there being too many anti-corruption tests, rather than too few.
Here is a handy explainer for anyone who wants to catch up on how banking regulations could change:
If you don’t want to click through:
Banks have a legal obligation to monitor their clients’ account, and to make risk assessments based on the information they have gathered. Politically exposed persons – individuals who because of their roles as public officials are deemed to carry a higher risk of bribery or corruption – require additional supervision.
Banks can also monitor any negative media coverage of their customers, as well as social media accounts and credit data, but this is usually meant to identify people who could potentially carry out a criminal act.
Coutts’ internal report said the bank was concerned about Farage’s “xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views” and believed maintaining his accounts posed a reputational risk. The report highlighted his ties to politicians such as Donald Trump, and his views on issues including migration and Russia. It said some of Farage’s comments were “not in line with our views or our purpose”.
Lloyds boss: 'We don't consider customers' political views'
The chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group has said the bank does not consider “their political or personal beliefs” when closing customers’ accounts.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, Lloyds chief executive Charlie Nunn said that it would “not be appropriate for me to comment around what the NatWest board and Alison has gone through,” but extended respect to his now-former Big Four banking rival.
I would just say, I’ve really respected Alison as a role model in financial services. Some of the leadership, especially around topics like sustainability and female entrepreneurs, has been great, and I’ll miss her in that context.
With respect to Lloyds Banking Group, we’re very clear that our policy on what choices and information we use when we onboard a customer or when we look at closing a customer’s account doesn’t include any consideration of their political or personal beliefs. And so we’re very comfortable that’s the right policy for Lloyds Banking Group.
Nunn said he’d been invited to the meeting being hosted by the City minister regarding bank account closure policies this morning, but would be sending a colleague in his place given he was tied up with second quarter financial results. “But we’lll obviously look forward to engaging the government and following up on any actions that are agreed coming out of that,” he added.
Updated
Minister: Bank approach to checking political links ‘needs correcting’
The City minister, Andrew Griffith, is due to meet bank bosses today to discuss the Farage row, and other Conservative MPs have raised the prospect of changing banking rules to bar them from considering clients’ political views.
Chris Philp, the policing minister, on Wednesday said that banking practices “need correcting”, although it is unclear what form changes would take.
The government could ask regulators to amend regulations, although some MPs, and Nigel Farage, have called for legislation, which would take longer.
It is a question of free speech and political freedom. Banks have also more widely been overzealously interpreting the PEP rules [politically exposed person rules] which meant many MPs have had trouble getting access to financial services, and even MPs’ families as well, spouses and children even. So they have been a bit overzealous, I think, and it does need correcting.
But the Nigel Farage case was I think particularly bad because it was based on lawful political beliefs, and as I said no one should be discriminated against in the United Kingdom because of their lawful, political beliefs.
There are wider issues here as well concerning banks potentially not providing banking services to people because of their lawful political views. That is completely wrong. We believe in free speech in this country, we believe in political freedom, and that means no one should be denied banking services, which are critical in a modern society, simply because of their lawful, political beliefs.
Philp has also held roles – very briefly indeed – chief secretary to the Treasury under former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, before the rapid collapse of former prime minister Liz Truss’s government. He also said Rose was right to resign.
There were very deep concerns in government about what had happened here because Alison Rose, it appears, did in fact disclose confidential client information about Nigel Farage… It turns out that information is inaccurate and I think it is therefore absolutely right that she has resigned.
Andrew Griffith earlier said:
I hope the whole financial sector learns from this incident. Its role is to serve customers well and fairly - not to tell them how or what to think.
Updated
Nigel Farage has said the NatWest board endorsed “a plain untruth” on Tuesday, shortly before government intervention forced Alison Rose to resign from the bank.
The first rule of banking is client confidentiality. She clearly broke that. She was the source of the leak, and if anybody in a more junior position had done that, they would have been out the door.
Yet we got this extraordinary statement, that came at a quarter to six last night, that said, yes, she breached client confidentiality, but we the board still have confidence in her.
There was a straight conflict between what the BBC said and what she said. Somebody wasn’t telling the truth.
He also said that he has heard about “tens of thousands” of bank account closures, mostly from the owners of small businesses.
I am far from alone. Many other people have come forward to say they’ve been shut out because of what they stand for and what they believe. Now the banks are working on monitoring the social media of every single one of us. And that needs to be stopped, that needs to be stopped stone dead.
Farage also praised the government for stepping in to the NatWest controversy. He said:
The government reaction to this in the last week has been superb.
Lloyds Banking Group profits hit by gloom over UK economy
This is why bank shares have dragged down the FTSE 100 in early trades this morning: a slump in profits at the UK’s biggest high street bank.
Profits for Lloyds Banking Group tumbled 29% in the three months to June, as it prepared for an increase in customers falling behind on costly loan and mortgage payments because of rising interest rates.
Lloyds, which is UK’s largest mortgage lender and owns Halifax, said pre-tax profits fell to £1.6bn in the second quarter. That marked a drop from £2.3bn a year earlier, and was slightly slower than average analyst estimates for £1.7bn.
While the bank’s net interest margin – which accounts for the difference between what is charged for loans and mortgages and what is paid out for savers – was broadly flat at £3.5bn, the bank’s profits were hit by its predictions for the British economy.
The lender said that although its own economists were expecting “stronger” GDP growth compared with six months ago, that was offset by fears that higher interest rates would lead to “increased losses”. It put aside £419m to cushion the blow of any potential defaults, where mortgage or loan borrowers fall behind, or potentially default, on their payments.
NatWest Group shares have fallen by 2.2% in the opening minutes of trading on the FTSE 100.
However, it appears that it may be economics driving the move rather than the resignation of Alison Rose: the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 is rival Lloyds Banking Group, which is down 2.9%.
Nigel Farage has called for legislation to prevent banks considering political views when making decisions on who can hold an account – while also taking a swipe at the pro-LGBT+ marketing campaigns Coutts has previously run.
Speaking this morning to his employer, GB News, Farage said:
The government, being a 36% shareholder in this bank, along with other major investors, needs to appoint a new temporary board to take control of this bank, and then what we need to do is, starting very early in the autumn, is to put in place legislation that says banks cannot and must not discriminate against customers because they support Brexit or they don’t think putting rainbow flags on the front of the bank is right.
We need to address the money laundering regulations that have effectively become the sledgehammer to miss the nut. It’s the innocent that are getting hurt, whilst the big-time crooks still get away with it.
Farage also declined to attack the BBC for its initial report that the account closure was made for commercial reasons, saying that “any journalist” would have published its account, and adding that a later statement from the head of BBC News was accurate and fair. He said:
I don’t think the BBC now come out of this badly. I think Alison Rose and the NatWest board come out of this terribly.
A small point: the government owns 39% of NatWest Group, according to the bank’s website.
City minister: 'It is right that the NatWest CEO has resigned'
The minister in charge of overseeing the UK’s financial services has said that “it is right” that Alison Rose has resigned from NatWest Group, calling the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account “unacceptable”.
Andrew Griffith, the City minister, said the resignation “would never have happened” had NatWest Group’s subsidiary, Coutts, not withdrawn the account “due to someone’s lawful political views”.
The crisis for NatWest Group over the closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts bank account spiralled after the government, its largest shareholder, expressed its disapproval.
The government has been the largest shareholder since the financial crisis, when it bailed out the bank, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland. That 39% shareholding gives ministers much more direct influence than at most other UK banks.
It is right that the NatWest CEO has resigned.
— Andrew Griffith MP (@griffitha) July 26, 2023
This would never have happened if NatWest had not taken it upon itself to withdraw a bank account due to someone’s lawful political views. That was and is always unacceptable.
I hope the whole financial sector learns from this… https://t.co/W4i3WYgeyX
Nigel Farage this morning said that “others must follow” after NatWest Group boss Alison Rose resigned as chief executive of the FTSE 100 bank.
Farage first complained last month that his bank account at Coutts, the expensive and exclusive private bank that famously used to count Queen Elizabeth II among its clients, had been closed. He said that it was closed because of his views.
The BBC then reported that his account was closed for commercial reasons, citing a very senior source at the bank – a briefing that was then confirmed by other sources. However, Farage used a subject access request (a right that was first afforded under EU data protection legislation) to obtain the bank’s information about himself. That showed that Coutts had also considered Farage’s political views before closing the account.
The former right-wing politician turned broadcaster on the GB News channel, said he hoped the resignation “served as a warning to the banking industry”.
Dame Alison Rose has gone. Others must follow.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 26, 2023
I hope that this serves as a warning to the banking industry.
We need both cultural and legal changes to a system that has unfairly shut down many thousands of innocent people.
I will do my best to be their voice.
Nigel Farage calls for more leaders to go after NatWest boss resigns
Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of business, economics and financial markets.
Nigel Farage has called for more people to resign from NatWest Group following the dramatic resignation of its chief executive, Alison Rose, amid a row over his account at the Coutts private banking subsidiary.
Rose resigned as chief executive of NatWest Group, the FTSE 100 bank, early on Wednesday morning after admitting to sharing information about Nigel Farage’s bank account to the BBC.
The board of the partly state-owned bank, which was formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, met late on Tuesday night to discuss her future, after having said she had the full confidence of the board earlier that day.
In a statement released on Wednesday morning, the 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.
In a statement of her own, Rose thanked her colleagues “for all that they have done”, adding:
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.
NatWest’s board of directors also announced that Paul Thwaite, the chief executive for commercial and institutional business, would take over Rose’s responsibilities for an initial period of 12 months, pending regulatory approval. The board said in a statement that appointment of a permanent successor would take place “in due course”.
We will have all of the reaction to the news throughout the day.
