NatWest ‘to scrap most of Dame Alison Rose’s £10m payoff’ after former boss quit in disgrace over Nigel Farage debanking row

• Bank has decided not to pay most of her pay package’s discretionary elements

NatWest is set to scrap most of Dame Alison Rose’s £10million payoff after the former boss quit in disgrace over Nigel Farage debanking row.

The bank has decided not to pay most of her pay package’s discretionary elements, Sky News has reported.

A source close to NatWest told the news channel that the decision is to be announced to the London Stock Exchange at the end of this week.

Rose stepped down from the state-backed lender at the end of July after admitting she had inaccurately briefed a BBC journalist about the reasons for closing Farage’s Coutts accounts. 

She suggested that he did not meet banking criteria for Coutts but it later emerged that it was also in part to do with his political views. 

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Farage said: ‘I would like to think what happend to Alison Rose ends the woke culture in banking, ends them playing politics and just dealing with customers on a commercial basis.’

The bank has decided not to pay most of Dame Alison Rose’s pay package’s discretionary elements, Sky News has reported 

Rose stepped down from the state-backed lender at the end of July after admitting she had inaccurately briefed a BBC journalist about the reasons for closing Farage’s (pictured) Coutts accounts 

A public filing by NatWest showed she was still receiving her annual £2.4 million pay in August. She has also been eligible to be considered for a pro-rata portion of £2.9 million of bonuses and long-term share awards she received last year. 

READ MORE: Nigel Farage demands debanking row staff are suspended after document reveals how some boasted about ‘driving him out of the country’ and joked about wanting to ‘throw a milkshake’ at him

She also holds around £5.65 million worth of shares in the company. 

Her contract stipulated she would receive £1.16million every year, with extra payment coming in deferred share awards.

But Dame Alison could actually be in line for nearer £10million in bonuses and share awards if the taxpayer-backed bank does not claw back her renumeration in light of an internal probe into the scandal. 

And the bank is also expected to pay her legal fees, Sky reports.

Mr Farage lost his account at Coutts, whose clients include members of the Royal Family, after an internal report said his views did not align with the bank’s values and he was ‘transphobic’. 

The row led to the resignation of NatWest boss Dame Alison Rose after she falsely told a journalist Mr Farage’s views had not been a factor in the loss of his account.

Last month Mr Farage told the Mail that it was the ‘woke’ culture under Dame Alison’s leadership which contributed to the ‘vile’ comments by staff. 

He called for her to be stripped of any bonuses, adding: ‘This is NatWest head office, this isn’t just a local branch. These were the people working directly under Dame Alison Rose. 

‘I think that people working within an organisation that is heavily state-owned, should just not be behaving in this highly politicised, prejudicial manner.

‘And yes, I think there should be staff suspensions and there must be another inquiry about how on earth people at NatWest are allowed to behave like this.

A public filing by NatWest showed she was still receiving her annual £2.4 million pay in August

‘I can’t imagine people anywhere else being allowed to talk about their customers in this way. After the Coutts stuff it was difficult to believe that anything could be worse, but this is.’

An independent review of the actions of NatWest Group ruled that while there were ‘serious failings’ in the way he was ‘debanked’, it was mainly a commercial decision. 

The report is the first stage of a probe that was commissioned by the NatWest board in July.

The City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, said the report ‘has highlighted potential regulatory breaches and a number of areas for improvement’. 

Last month, Britain’s information watchdog ruled that Dame Alison breached Mr Farage’s privacy rights. 

The former chief executive had admitted a ‘serious error of judgment’ by discussing with a BBC journalist Mr Farage’s relationship with Coutts. 

The Information Commissioner’s Office said the disclosure of details of his account to a journalist had been ‘unacceptable’, but that it had decided no further regulatory action after she quit. 

It followed calls for staff members to be suspended after several posted messages mocking Mr Farage, including one who said they wanted to throw a milkshake at him. 

NatWest declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.

Source: Read Full Article