Decision to close Nigel Farage’s account was “lawful”, review finds

Conducted on behalf of Coutts owner the NatWest Group by law firm Travers Smith, it also said that – on balance – the decision was predominantly commercial, with Coutts considering its relationship with Farage as unviable because it was significantly loss-making.  

It did, however, go on to say the bank failed to pay “due regard” to the interests of Farage and failed to treat him fairly in the round. Additionally, the decision from former chief executive Alison Rose to convey “confidential customer information” concerning the former UKIP leader to the BBC in July “probably amounted to a personal data breach”.  

In response to the report, NatWest group chairman Sir Howard Davies said: “This report sets out a number of serious failings in the treatment of Mr Farage. Although Travers Smith confirm 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. Our job now is to make sure that does not happen again.  

“The bank is committed to implementing all the recommendations made by Travers Smith and we are making substantive changes to our policies and procedures, in particular to ensure that the lawfully protected beliefs or opinions of customers do not play any role in our decision making. 

“The board is considering the findings and deciding on the appropriate outcomes on other matters. It is important we have regard to all necessary processes and due consideration of issues including the bank’s obligations around privacy and confidentiality.” 

Giving his response to the report, Farage described it as a whitewash, and said some of the conclusions it came to was “laughable”. He added: “The Travers Smith report is inconclusive and ignores the elephant in the room.  

“What really matters now is the next steps that the ICO takes and, perhaps more importantly what the FCA, the regulator of this industry, does about this scandal.”

Earlier this week the Information Commissioners Office said NatWest’s former chief executive Rose broke data protection laws when she told a journalist about the closure of the former MEP’s account, judging her actions to be “unacceptable”. However, it did rule that no further regulatory action was needed.