Ex-NatWest boss Dame Alison Rose will lose 7.6 million pounds ($9.2 million) after admitting that she discussed the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account.
The former head of the specified financial institution will receive his fixed salary package of 2.4 million pounds ($2.9 million). At the same time, she will not receive remuneration for participating in promotions and bonuses that were originally due to her.
Alison Rose resigned as CEO of NatWest in July. This happened after she told about Nigel Farage’s bank account at Coutts, owned by the aforementioned financial institution.
The former head of the bank said she was pleased that NatWest Group had confirmed that no findings of misconduct had been made against her. She also said that the case was closed after the settlement agreement. But in the salary deal, NatWest stated that Alison Rose was not awarded the status of a good leaver. In case of obtaining the appropriate status, the total amount of payments due to the former CEO of a financial institution would amount to 10 million pounds ($12.2 million).
Nigel Farage said that the decision of the bank, 39% owned by the British government, is correct. He also said that this is not the end of the NatWest saga. Nigel Farage announced his instructions to lawyers to take action against the lender.
In October, NatWest admitted serious flaws in its treatment of former United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) leader Mr Farage. An independent report testified that the financial institution failed to properly inform about its decision to close the account of the specified citizen.
Nigel Farage, who is a well-known Brexit supporter, stated this year that Coutts, a prestigious private bank for the rich, closed his account without explanation. The media reported that this decision was made because the former leader of UKIP ceased to meet the threshold of wealth of the mentioned lender. Later, Nigel Farage received a report from the bank, which contained information that his political views were one of the factors taken into account when closing the account.
Alison Rose, who at the time of the scandal had the status of the most influential woman in the British banking sector, resigned, admitting that she made a mistake.
This case has intensified the discussion in the public space that political views determine the possibility of access to the services of financial institutions.
An independent review of the closure of Mr Farage’s account has testified that this decision is primarily based on commercial considerations. But it turned out that the bank when making this action, paid attention to the impact of the former UKIP leader’s statements on Coutts’ reputation among customers, staff, and investors. In this case, it implies the publicly declared position of Nigel Farage on issues such as gender, race, migration, and the environment. The former UKIP leader called the audit an attempt to justify the bank’s actions and accused Travers Smith, the law firm that conducted it, of, as he said, a mealy-mouthed approach.
