NatWest Bank CEO Quits Over "Leak" On Nigel Farage's Account

The chief executive of NatWest, one of Britain’s biggest banks, left her job on Wednesday after discussing personal details of a client — the populist politician Nigel Farage — with a journalist amid a furor over financial institutions’ power to refuse customers for their political views, Jill Lawless reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: CEO Alison Rose’s departure came after days of news stories sparked when Farage complained that his bank account had been shut down because the banking group didn’t agree with his political views.

The bank said Alison Rose was leaving “by mutual consent.” The surprise early-morning statement came just hours after NatWest had expressed full confidence in the CEO, who was the first woman to head one of Britain’s four big banks.

“It is a sad moment,” said the bank’s chairman, Howard Davies. NatWest shares fell more than 3% in trading Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange.

Rose’s departure came after days of news stories sparked when Farage complained that his bank account had been shut down because the banking group didn’t agree with his political views.

Farage, a right-wing talk show presenter and former leader of the pro-Brexit UK Independence Party, said his account with the private bank Coutts, owned by NatWest Group, had been shut down unfairly.

The BBC ran a story, based on an anonymous source at the bank, saying the account was closed because Farage did not meet Coutts’ 1 million pound ($1.3 million) borrowing requirement.

Farage then published documents he had obtained from the bank showing that officials discussed his financial affairs, but also the “reputational damage” associated with keeping him as a customer.

The documents said Farage was “seen as xenophobic and racist” and “considered by many to be a disingenuous grifter.”

Farage, a skilled seeker of attention and generator of outrage, accused the bank of stomping on his freedom of speech, and some members of the Conservative government echoed his concerns.

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