Nigel Farage says ‘whole NatWest board needs to go’ after CEO steps down over leak
The CEO of NatWest has stepped down from her job ‘effective immediately’ after admitting to being the source of an inaccurate BBC story about Nigel Farage’s finances.
Dame Alison Rose admitted yesterday that she had spoken with the BBC’s business editor, Simon Jack, which formed the basis of their story published three weeks ago.
On Wednesday morning Mr Farage described the resignation of Dame Alison as ‘a start’ but added he believes the ‘whole board needs to go’.
Speaking to GB News, he said her resignation ‘had to happen’, adding: ‘The first rule of banking is you have to respect the privacy of the customer. You also have to respect the GDPR regulations.
‘They were both broken, very clearly, by the boss of NatWest.’
The BBC has since apologised to Mr Farage, as they acknowledged ‘that the information we reported […] turned out not to be accurate’.
The board of NatWest Group, which owns Coutts bank, said yesterday it retained ‘full confidence’ in its CEO.
Despite this Dame Alison has now announced she is stepping down from her job.
An emergency board meeting was called late on Tuesday night to determine her future, with the announcement of her resignation coming a few hours later.
She had held the role since 2019 and made history as she became the first woman to take the top job at one of the UK’s big four banks.
In a statement released early this morning, group chairman Sir Howard Davies said: ‘The Board and Alison Rose have agreed, by mutual consent, that she will step down as CEO of the NatWest Group. It is a sad moment.
‘She has dedicated all her working life so far to NatWest and will leave many colleagues who respect and admire her.’
In a statement of her own, Dame Alison thanked her colleagues ‘for all that they have done’, adding: ‘I remain immensely proud of the progress the bank has made in supporting people, families and business across the UK, and building the foundations for sustainable growth.’
Last week, Mr Farage presented evidence, in the form of a 40-page dossier, that his account at Coutts had been closed partly due to his political views conflicting with the bank’s values.
This contradicted the BBC story which claimed he had not met a £1 million borrowing requirement.
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