LONDON (AFP) – British bank NatWest yesterday said it had launched an independent review into its handling of arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage, whose account it controversially shut, costing the jobs of top executives.
The announcement by chairman Howard Davies came after the lender, 39-per cent owned by the United Kingdom (UK) government, posted a jump in first-half net profits on higher interest rates.
The head of NatWest’s private banking arm Coutts resigned on Thursday, one day after Alison Rose quit as NatWest chief executive officer (CEO).
At the end of a crisis-hit week, NatWest said group profit after tax jumped 22 per cent to GBP2.3 billion (USD2.9 billion) in the first six months of the year.
Davies added in a media call that the group had appointed UK law firm Travers Smith to lead the review into the bank’s handling of Farage.
“The last few weeks have been a painful period for the bank, and we apologise for the uncertainty created for customers and shareholders,” Davies told reporters. Interim CEO Paul Thwaite added it was “an understatement to say that these are not ideal circumstances for anyone to take over”.
“It’s clear to me that we got some things wrong.
“It will take time to address some of those challenges, but I’ve already taken action. I’m determined we learn, and start to move forward quickly,” Thwaite added.
Farage, former leader of the Brexit Party and the anti-immigration party UKIP, has complained that he was removed as a client of Coutts for his political views.
In a report which it has since apologised for, the BBC had suggested Farage’s accounts were closed because he did not have sufficient funds to remain a client of the prestigious establishment.
Farage, a Eurosceptic politician and now a television presenter, campaigned for decades for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and was a key figure in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
NatWest’s board initially backed Rose on Tuesday, but by early Wednesday it announced she was stepping down after working at the bank for 30 years.
