NatWest stands by CEO after ‘error’ of discussing Farage furore with BBC reporter

NatWest has insisted it has “full confidence” in Alison Rose, despite the chief executive admitting she made a “serious error of judgment” in discussing Nigel Farage’s banking relationship in a conversation with a BBC reporter.

The banking group’s chairman, Howard Davies, said the board’s support for Rose came after “careful reflection” but warned she could see her pay docked as a result of the controversy, which started after NatWest’s private bank Coutts shut the ex-Ukip leader’s accounts earlier this year.

“The board has noted Alison Rose’s statement on the circumstances of her conversation with [BBC journalist] Simon Jack and her further apology to Mr Farage,” Davies said in a statement.

“As she recognises, she should not have spoken in the way she did. This was a regrettable error of judgment on her part. The events will be taken into account in decisions on remuneration at the appropriate time. However, after careful reflection the board has concluded that it retains full confidence in Ms Rose as CEO of the bank,” he added.

Rose said in her own statement on Tuesday that she made a “serious error of judgment” during a conversation with Jack, the BBC News business editor, in which she confirmed that the bank had taken a “commercial decision” in shutting Farage’s Coutts account and offering him a NatWest account.

“I repeated what Mr Farage had already stated, that the bank saw this as a commercial decision. I would like to emphasise that in responding to Mr Jack’s questions I did not reveal any personal financial information about Mr Farage,” Rose said.

“Put simply, I was wrong to respond to any question raised by the BBC about this case. I want to extend my sincere apologies to Mr Farage for the personal hurt this has caused him and I have written to him today.”

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