NatWest Group PLC (LSE:NWG) chief executive Alison Rose has apologised to former UKIP head Nigel Farage for the closure of his bank accounts and “deeply inappropriate” comments made by subsidiary Coutts.
After a row that has rumbled on for days, Rose wrote to the former politician saying it was not the bank’s policy to exclude customers on the basis of “legally held political and personal views”.
Rose added that NatWest would instigate a full review of Coutts’ processes in closing Farage’s bank accounts.
The apology follows outrage by several government ministers over the way Farage had been treated by the private bank, with new laws being drafted to force banks to explain why an account has been closed.
According to the BBC, banks will also have to give a notice period of 90 days before closing an account and allow an appeal.
Banks will still have the right to close accounts of customers they deem to be a “reputational or political risk”.
NatWest’s apology follows the sending of a 40-page report by Farage to the Daily Mail containing minutes from a meeting that reviewed his suitability as a customer.
This contradicted a BBC report that stated the reason Farage's accounts had been closed was due to him not meeting the financial requirements to be a Coutts customer.
A story in the Telegraph yesterday claimed that the BBC report followed a dinner where its business editor Simon Jack had sat next to Alison Rose.
Farage told reporters last night that the apology was a start but nowhere near enough.
He wants Rose to go before the Treasury Select Committee to explain what had happened and if his client confidentiality had been breached.
Shares in NatWest dropped 0.8% to 254.8p.