A story about Nigel Farage’s account with Coutts was provided to the BBC by NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose (Picture: Reuters/PA)
The CEO of NatWest has said she made a ‘serious error of judgment’ after admitted she was the source of a BBC story about Nigel Farage’s account with the company’s private bank Coutts.
Three weeks ago, the broadcaster reported that the prestigious lender, used by the ultra-rich and members of the Royal Family, had shut the former Ukip leader’s account because it did not meet their financial threshold.
However, documents from Coutts have since emerged indicating the account was shut because the bank found Mr Farage’s public statements did ‘not align’ with its values.
Several politicians have called for the law to be changed to prevent banks from shutting people out based on their personal views.
The BBC has since apologised to Mr Farage, as they acknowledged ‘that the information we reported […] turned out not to be accurate’.
Dame Alison Rose, the boss of the NatWest Group which owns Coutts, released a statement this afternoon saying she was the source for their story, which was written by the corporation’s Business Editor Simon Jack.
She wrote: ‘I recognise that in my conversations with Simon Jack of the BBC, I made a serious error of judgment in discussing Mr Farage’s relationship with the bank.
‘Given the consequences of this, I want to address the questions that have been raised and set out the substance of the conversations that took place.’
The private lender Coutts is used by a number of high-profile people including members of the Royal Family (Picture: Amer Ghazzal/Shutterstock)
She continued: ‘Believing it was public knowledge, I confirmed that Mr Farage was a Coutts customer and that he had been offered a NatWest bank account.
‘Alongside this, I repeated what Mr Farage had already stated, that the bank saw this as a commercial decision.’
The banker, who has led the group since 2019, added: ‘
Dame Alison added: ‘I was not part of the decision-making process to exit Mr Farage. This decision was made by Coutts, and I was informed in April that this was for commercial reasons.
‘At the time of my conversations with Mr Jack, I was not in receipt of the contents of the Coutts Wealth Reputational Risk Committee materials subsequently released by Mr Farage.
‘I have apologised to Mr Farage for the deeply inappropriate language contained in those papers and the board has commissioned a full independent review into the decision and process to ensure that this cannot happen again.’
The board of NatWest Group has said it retains ‘full confidence’ in its CEO following the statement.
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The BBC has apologised for an article in which it stated Mr Farage’s political beliefs had nothing to do with the closure of his account.
