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“Serious failings” were made by NatWest in its treatment of Nigel Farage when it closed down his Coutts bank account, an independent review has found.
The report said the communication of the closure with the former UKIP leader did not follow the bank’s policies.
However, the report found the closure was lawful, and based mainly on commercial reasons.
Mr Farage said the report was a “whitewash”, calling some findings “laughable”.
He accused the law firm Travers Smith, which is conducting the investigation, of having taken a “mealy-mouthed approach to this complex issue”.
Mr Farage, a prominent Brexiteer, said earlier this year that Coutts, the prestigious private bank for the wealthy and owned by NatWest, had moved to shut down his account because his political beliefs did not align with the bank.
However, the politician later obtained a report from the Bank which indicated his political views were also considered.
The fallout let to NatWest’s chief executive, Dame Alison Rose, resigning after admitting she had made a mistake in speaking about Mr Farage’s relationship with the bank.
Law firm Travers Smith, which conducted the review, said “on balance”, the decision to close Mr Farage’s Coutts account was “predominantly a commercial decision” as the bank “considered its relationship with Mr Farage to be commercially unviable because it was significantly loss-making”.
It added there were “other factors considered as part of the decision-making process” and “foremost among those other factors was the risk Coutts perceived to its reputation in the eyes of its stakeholders”.which conducted the review said: “Coutts considered its relationship with Mr Farage to be commercially unviable because it was significantly loss-making.”
NatWest apologised for the failings.
Sir Howard Davies, NatWest Group chairman, said although the investigation confirmed “the lawful basis for the exit decision, the findings set out clear shortcomings in how it was reached as well as failures in how we communicated with him and in relation to client confidentiality”.
“We apologise once again to Mr Farage for how he has been treated. His experience fell short of the standards that any customer should expect,” he added.
Earlier this week, the Information Commissioner’s Office concluded that Dame Alison had breached Mr Farage’s privacy rights.
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25 July
