Alison Rose admitted on Tuesday that she had a conversation with a BBC reporter about the details of Nigel Farage's bank account. Farage was notified at the beginning of this month that Coutts, an upscale private bank and wealth manager owned by NatWest that requires clients to have at least £1 million worth of investments/borrowings or £3 million worth of savings, was ending their relationship. Subsequently, Farage made a request to see the file the bank had on him and when he was given the dossier, he printed it and claimed that the termination of the account was because of his views.
Amidst a media frenzy over the discontinuation of Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage's bank account at sister lender Coutts, NatWest Group CEO Alison Rose resigned. Rose admitted Tuesday to having discussed the details of Farage's account with a BBC reporter, a decision that resulted in the broadcaster issuing an apology. Initially, the board voiced their support, however, Rose's departure was announced in the early hours of Wednesday. Rose commented that she was proud of the bank's progress, though her misstep in divulging customer details to the press created a public scandal given NatWest's 39% ownership by taxpayers. AJ Bell’s head of financial analysis, Danni Hewson, noted that the breach of trust was Rose's downfall despite her successful tenure as the first female U.K. bank CEO. Last month, Farage was informed by Coutts, a high-end private bank and wealth manager, that they would be ending their relationship.
Subsequently, Farage filed a subject access request to obtain a dossier held by the bank on him, and then published it, claiming that it showed the bank account was terminated due to his political views. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and several members of his Conservative government expressed outrage, saying that the cancellation of Farage's account was an assault on free speech. NatWest offered Farage an alternative account, which he declined. Nevertheless, those who disagree with him maintain that the decision to end the relationship was mainly a business one, and he was not "de-banked" as he asserts. According to minutes from the Wealth Reputational Risk Committee at Coutts on November 2022, Farage's mortgage was due to expire in July 2023, thus turning it into an unprofitable venture for the bank. Therefore, the bank suggested that they should wind down the banking relationship by July. However, they proposed that the relationship could end earlier if any further controversies occurred. Coutts declared that they did not want to continue banking with Farage due to his publicly-stated views which clashed with their inclusive values. The minutes also noted that Farage's account had been below the commercial criteria for some time, and thus the decision was taken to exit the arrangement upon repayment of the mortgage. Moreover, Farage's politically exposed person status, which is assigned to high-ranking public figures who might be prone to bribery, was lowered to "lower risk" since he is no longer connected with any political party since he stepped down as Brexit Party leader in 2021. Part of the client analysis from Coutts highlighted various news articles and Farage's own media appearances and tweets which concluded that the "values" he advocates did not coincide with the bank's. The analysis also remarked that Farage often uses divisive and emotionally charged language, causing people to view him as xenophobic and even racist.
Nigel Farage has been a political companion of former U.S. President Donald Trump, a vocal admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a well-known figure in the British hard right, having at one time been the leader of the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) and the Brexit Party.Documents list a number of his contentious declarations and actions, such as his recording of migrants arriving in dinghies across the English Channel and his description of the same as an "invasion," as well as his blaming of outbreaks of violence in the city of Leicester last year on those who "promoted multiculturalism." Coutts accepted that Farage's commentary "remains within the law regarding hate speech and could be seen as being on the 'right side of 'glorifying or promoting harmful behaviour' (although it should be noted that the 'illegal immigrant / invasion' rhetoric has a part in contributing to discrimination and, occasionally, violence, against migrants)."The aftermathFarage told Sky News on Wednesday that he was "shocked with the vitriol" of the documents, and is demanding the resignation of the entire NatWest Group senior management and an overhaul of the British banking system.On Tuesday, British economist and financial author Frances Coppola agreed in a blog post that the language of the bank's risk assessment was "by and large negative and sometimes seemingly defamatory," and said former CEO Rose was wise to apologize to Farage before her departure.Nevertheless, Coppola contended that the bank was "completely correct to carry out such an analysis and completely within its rights to come to the findings that it did," with Coutts' risk assessment stating that there is an "extra cost associated with managing the accounts of high-profile individuals such as NF.""Assessing the risk and cost of a customer is a commercial decision. And reputational risk is very important to a bank like Coutts. It is completely unjustifiable to claim that they should not have taken account of -- or even examined -- the risk to them of conducting business with someone as contentious as Nigel Farage," Coppola argued."Why should a bank put up with the extra expense that you cause them if you don't borrow from them and don't have enough liquid funds with them to back up their lending to other individuals? And why should it keep your account open when you don't meet its publicized requirements, taking into account the reputational risk and general annoyance that you bring about?"
The Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday that it has raised questions to NatWest Group and Coutts concerning the claims of account closures and infringement of customer confidentiality that were made public, and NatWest has instituted an independent probe of the series of events. It is essential that the review has adequate resources and those doing it have access to the required information and people so as to look into what happened rapidly and completely, the FCA mentioned in a declaration. Depending on the review's outcome and any steps taken by other authorities, e.g. the Financial Ombudsman Service or Information Commissioner, on relevant grievances, the FCA will decide if any extra action is imperative.
At the same time, after a meeting between Britain's economic secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Griffith, and British banking chiefs, the U.K. Treasury articulated in a statement "the government's precise stance on the significance of lawful freedom of expression," adding that it is “totally unacceptable” to terminate the account of an individual for expressing their political opinions. Banks must also explain why they are ending a bank account – improving transparency for consumers and aiding them to reverse decisions, the statement said. There will be certain exclusions to these obligations, such as to make certain that bank correspondence is not hampering investigations into criminal activity. Despite the result of Farage's requirements for extra resignations and regulatory scrutiny, British banking has been put in the spotlight and could become another political bone of contention prior to the general election set for next year.
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