Pressure mounts on NatWest chairman over Farage bank scandal

NatWest’s chairman is under mounting pressure to determine whether Dame Alison Rose, the bank’s chief executive, played a role in the leaking of Nigel Farage’s private information.

Dame Alison’s career is hanging in the balance after the BBC apologised on Monday for an inaccurate story that claimed Coutts, which is owned by NatWest, shut down Mr Farage’s bank accounts because he did not meet its financial requirements.

The broadcaster said the story, by Simon Jack, its business editor, had come from “a trusted and senior source”. 

Mr Jack sat next to Dame Alison at a charity dinner in London the night before the article was published. Days earlier, Mr Farage had disclosed that his account with Coutts had been closed “without explanation”.

Sir Howard Davies, NatWest’s chairman, is now facing calls to launch a board-level inquiry into the leak. 

The scandal engulfing the bank comes after The Telegraph revealed that Mr Farage’s accounts were closed after Coutts decided his views “do not align with our values”.

On Monday, Mr Farage wrote to Sir Howard requesting that he open an investigation.

The furore risks overshadowing Friday’s publication of NatWest’s results for the first half of the year, which will further fuel demands for Sir Howard to act quickly. The bank is 39 per cent owned by the taxpayer.

‘I want the absolute truth’

In his letter Mr Farage, the former leader of the UK Independence Party, wrote: “Dear Mr Davies, can I ask whether you have initiated any internal investigation into the leaking of my bank status and current account balances?”

Mr Farage told The Telegraph: “I’m very pleased that Simon Jack admits that the information he was given was inaccurate. He says it came from a senior source, I’m wondering whether it was a very senior source.

“I want the absolute truth and I’m going to go on fighting and pushing until I get it – I won’t stop until I get it.”

Mr Farage has made a complaint about the leak to the Information Commissioner, but the body is yet to announce an investigation.

The BBC story was amended to include a clarification last week, but the corporation and Mr Jack went further on Monday. 

In an apology posted on Twitter, Mr Jack said: 

The original story described the source as “familiar with Coutts’ move”.

The BBC also wrote a separate letter of apology to Mr Farage, which hinted at the origin of the story. 

It stated that Mr Jack had been given the incorrect information by the source and that he had then gone back to them to explain he wanted to run the story. 

Prior to it being published, he approached Mr Farage for comment on July 4. 

The day before, July 3, Mr Jack had sat next to Dame Alison at a charity dinner at the Langham Hotel in central London.

In the BBC’s official apology, Deborah Turness, chief executive of BBC News and Current Affairs, wrote: “It’s clear that the story we originally published, based on information provided by our source, turned out to be inaccurate.”

She accepted the story had generated a “considerable and humiliating amount of publicity” and said that “for context” she wanted to explain how “the story evolved”. 

Ms Turness said: “Our business editor, Simon Jack, was told by a senior and trusted source that the bank contested the story that you had put into the public domain – i.e. that Coutts had closed your accounts for political reasons.

“The source said your accounts had been closed for commercial reasons. We felt this was a story of significant public interest and went back to the source to check they were happy for us to publish the information. They said they were.”

The BBC apology, authorised by Tim Davie, its director-general, was prompted by a subject access request by Mr Farage that revealed a 40-page dossier compiled by Coutts that led to his accounts being shut. 

The documents were passed to The Telegraph a little over a week ago, disproving the BBC story.

Mr Farage said on Monday that he accepted the BBC’s apology and said no fault or blame should be apportioned to the broadcaster. 

“This now goes right back to the NatWest banking group,” he said. 

“Somebody in that group decided that it was appropriate, ethical and legal to leak details of my personal financial situation.”

Dame Alison – NatWest’s chief executive since 2019, who was paid more than £5 million last year – has already apologised to Mr Farage for what she called the “deeply inappropriate” comments contained in the Coutts dossier.

She has instigated a full review of Coutts’ processes on bank account closures. However, her statement did not mention the leak of his information.

On Monday, senior Tories called for a full inquiry into the BBC leak conducted by the bank’s board.

Lord Frost, a former Cabinet minister, said: “The board of NatWest now needs to face up to its responsibilities. There is prima facie evidence, from Simon Jack, that a ‘senior and trusted’ source passed confidential information to the BBC.

“For the sake of future confidence in the bank, the board needs to find out who that was and ensure that appropriate action is taken against them.”

He said the Financial Conduct Authority should also be concerned if the bank does not launch its own inquiry.

Danny Kruger, a Conservative member of the Treasury select committee, said: “NatWest need to investigate and explain how the BBC came to be citing a ‘NatWest source’ in a story about the private finances of a client that turned out to be untrue.”

He said the select committee could choose to summon Dame Alison as a witness.

Dame Priti Patel, the former home secretary, said: “Rather than hiding behind their faceless bureaucracy, the time has come for full disclosure and transparency around the information-sharing that took place between the taxpayer-bailed-out bank NatWest and the BBC.”

David Jones, a former Cabinet minister, said: “It seems, on the face of it, that private customer details were discussed with a journalist by a bank official. Howard Davies must get to the bottom of this. The reputation of NatWest Group rests upon it.”

NatWest was contacted for comment.

Have you left NatWest over its treatment of Nigel Farage and others who have been ‘de-banked’? We want to hear from you, email money@telegraph.co.uk