NATWEST Group, owner of Royal Bank of Scotland, announced profits of nearly £3.6 billion for the first half of the year this morning.
But the latest financial results from the state-backed lender were a mere sideshow as chairman Sir Howard Davies, with a supporting cast of interim chief executive Paul Thwaite and finance boss Katie Murray, faced the media.
Enquiries about the bank’s financial health were largely absent as journalists pinned Sir Howard down on events which led to the resignation on Wednesday of chief executive Alison Rose, who found herself at the centre of a story about Coutts, the NatWest-owned private bank, and its decision to close the accounts of the former UKIP leader.
READ MORE: Does Alison Rose deserve sympathy after Farage row sees her lose job?
To recap, the BBC ran a story to the effect Coutts had “exited” Farage for commercial reasons, with the high-profile Brexiter having dipped below a specific commercial threshold. Farage had paid off a mortgage which provided the opportunity for Coutts to end its relationship with him.
Farage saw things differently and requested a subjected access review, resulting in the disclosure of documents which revealed Coutts had concerns over his political activities, as well as the commercial status of his accounts.
Cue a deluge a media coverage with Farage at the centre, claiming he had been “de-banked” on account of his politics.
Among the many problems this created for NatWest, the worse was the revelation that Dame Alison had discussed Farage’s relationship with the BBC journalist Simon Jack, identifying her as the source of the original story.
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Any hopes Dame Alison had over keeping her job were quickly dashed, and within hours of the bank saying on Tuesday that the board retained confidence in her, she was gone.
A media call set up originally to discuss the bank’s results today instead became an interrogation of Sir Howard into the choreography of a scandal which has now led to the exit of two senior figures, with Coutts chief executive Peter Flavel following Dame Alison out the NatWest door on Thursday.
Sir Howard expressed disappointment at losing a “great leader” in Dame Alison but conceded that it would have been impossible for her to continue when the Government made clear its feelings on the matter. He deftly batted away questions on whether the erstwhile chief executive would be likely to receive a pay-off and about his own tenure, which he said would still end as planned next year.
The freshest news today was probably that the bank has commissioned law firm Travers Smith to carry a review of the Farage episode. Top brass will be hoping that the Farage roadshow will quickly move on to something else while the lawyers get to work, and that no further heads need roll.
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