Natwest Appoints Travers Smith to Lead Review into Nigel Farage Account Closure Fiasco

Natwest Appoints Travers Smith to Lead Review into Nigel Farage Account Closure Fiasco

British bank NatWest has appointed the law firm Travers Smith to undertake an independent review into account closure arrangements at private bank Coutts, after a damaging row with former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage.

NatWest chairman Howard Davies expressed that the political pressure prompted the shock ousting of chief executive Alison Rose, after the bank reported first-half earnings.

The bank said in a later statement that the independent review would identify lessons to be learned from the matter and potential areas for improvement, adding that it would be presented to the group board and the findings made public.

The review will be carried out in two phases, the first phase review will consider the circumstances surrounding the closure of Farage’s accounts with Coutts. The review will also examine the circumstances around the BBC story and whether any confidential customer information was leaked or breach of GDPR occurred, as well as review actions taken by the bank in response to any potential breach.

The second phase will review a sample of other Coutts’ account closures over the preceding 24 months. Further, the second phase of the review will analyze how policies have been applied to other account closures, including those designated as political exposed persons.

The first phase of the review is expected to be completed within four to six weeks, with the second phase expected to be completed by the end of October.

The instruction is a major coup for London independent Travers Smith, which is best known for its private equity practice, but has been building up its disputes and investigations teams in recent years.

Lawyers at Travers Smith are set to review as to how Farage’s account was identified for closure and the steps that led to his case being considered by the bank’s reputational risk committee. The team further reviewing as to how any decisions were made and whether those decisions were made in accordance with relevant bank policies and processes.

The team will look into matters such as how the decision was communicated to Farage and will examine the roles of senior executives at NatWest and Coutts in the decision to close his account.

Only customers with at least three-million-pound in savings or one-million-pound in loans or investments are accepted by Coutts, which once counted the late Queen Elizabeth among its clients. Farage acknowledged that he fell short of this requirement, but asserted that the bank had not been concerned for ten years.

According to an internal memo, Coutts could not continue to offer banking services to Farage because of how his political views conflicted with the institution's commitment to diversity. Farage was also identified as a politically exposed person, meaning that he is more likely to be the victim of corruption and bribery.

In March, a Travers Smith team led by finance partner Charles Bischoff advised NatWest on a 95-million-pound debt facility provided to motor finance fintech Carmoola.