Who is Paul Thwaite? The Natwest director replacing Alison Rose after she quit amid Nigel Farage row
- Paul Thwaite will take over from Dame Alison Rose as Chief Executive of Natwest
- This comes after Dame Alison Rose stepped down from the position last night
- Mr Thwaite is the current chief executive of the company’s Commercial and Institutional business
Natwest’s Board of Directors has announced that the bank’s current Chief Executive of Commercial and Institutional business, Paul Thwaite, will take over from Dame Alison Rose as Chief Executive.
This comes after Dame Alison was forced to step down from the position last night after admitting she briefed the BBC about the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account with Coutts.
So who is the man who is stepping into the role?
Who is Paul Thwaite?
Paul Thwaite (pictured) will take over Dame Alison’s responsibilities for an initial period of 12 months, pending regulatory approval.
Mr. Thwaite is the current chief executive of the company’s Commercial and Institutional business – a role he has held since July last year.
Before this, Mr Thwaite had led the Group’s Commercial Banking division as CEO since November 2019.
He will take over Dame Alison’s responsibilities for an initial period of 12 months, pending regulatory approval.
The Natwest website says that Mr Thwaite’s previous role meant he was responsible for the teams that support business customers, ranging from start-ups to multi-nationals.
The new Chief Executive has a track record in Wholesale, Corporate, International and Retail Banking. He also led Natwest’s response to supporting customers through the Covid pandemic.
Prior to this, he held Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer roles in International Banking, based in the UK, Europe and the US.
The website also states that Mr Thwaite ‘takes an active role in NatWest’s diversity, equality and inclusion agenda, driving a number of targeted programmes and initiatives across the Group.’
The Board of Directors at Natwest said in a statement that a further process to appoint a permanent successor will take place ‘in due course’.
What is the ‘de-banking’ row with Nigel Farage?
Staff at Coutts had compiled a 36-page dossier to justify ‘exiting’ Mr Farage as his political views did ‘not align’ with the lender’s values
Nigel Farage, the former leader of the UK Independence Party, reported earlier this month that his bank account had been closed and that he had not been given a reason why.
His bank account was with Coutts – a private bank that’s part of NatWest Group’s wealth management division.
Mr Farage complained and then received a phone call from the bank, who said that the closure of his account was a ‘commercial decision.’
After speaking to a source at Natwest, the BBC had reported that Mr. Farage’s account was closed as it had fallen below the level of wealth required that were required by the bank.
It was revealed that this source was Dame Alison Rose.
She said that she made a ‘serious error of judgement’ when discussing Mr Farage’s account with BBC journalist Simon Jack at a charity dinner the night before.
Mr Jack apologised to Mr Farage for his ‘incomplete and inaccurate’ story about why his Coutts account was shut down, blaming a ‘senior and trusted source’ for the false information.
It has since come to light that Mr Farage was ditched by Coutts partly due to his political views.
Staff at Coutts had compiled a 36-page dossier to justify ‘exiting’ Mr Farage as his political views did ‘not align’ with the lender’s values.
Dame Alison quitting was a U-turn
Dame Alison Rose (pictured) quit her role as Chief Executive of Natwest in the early hours of the morning, after initially trying to cling on to the position
Dame Alison Rose’s departure was a big U-turn for Natwest as they had said earlier that they retain ‘full confidence in Ms Rose as CEO of the bank’
Dame Alison initially tried to cling on to her role, but finally quit in the early hours of the morning.
She resigned after intervention from the PM and Chancellor, who made their ‘significant concerns’ clear.
This was a big U-turn for Natwest as they had said earlier that they retain ‘full confidence in Ms Rose as CEO of the bank’ – and it would be an stark end to her four-year role as the only woman to run one of Britain’s biggest high-street banks.
Dame Alison said in a statement: ‘I recognise that in my conversations with Simon Jack of the BBC, I made a serious error of judgment in discussing Mr Farage’s relationship with the bank.
‘Believing it was public knowledge, I confirmed that Mr Farage was a Coutts customer and that he had been offered a NatWest bank account.
‘Alongside this, I repeated what Mr Farage had already stated, that the bank saw this as a commercial decision.
‘I did not reveal any personal financial information about Mr Farage. In response to a general question about eligibility criteria required to bank with Coutts and NatWest I said that guidance on both was publicly available on their websites.
‘In doing so, I recognise that I left Mr Jack with the impression that the decision to close Mr Farage’s accounts was solely a commercial one.’
Dame Alison said she was not part of the decision-making process to close Mr Farage’s account.
Simon Jack (pictured): The BBC journalist who apologised for his ‘incomplete and inaccurate’ story about why his Coutts account was shut down
Mr Farage tweeted that ‘others must follow’ Dame Alison Rose in her departure
Mr Farage has called Dame Alison’s departure as a ‘start’ but he believes others must follow, writing: ‘She’s gone, and that’s a start, but I have to say that (Coutts chief executive) Peter Flavel … (NatWest chair) Howard Davies … it was the board that sanctioned this culture that talks about diversity and inclusion, and actually is very divisive.
‘In my case, as you can clearly see, pretty poisonous stuff. I think any board member that endorsed that statement last night, where they said ”yes, she breached confidentiality, but she can stay in her post”… frankly, I think the whole board needs to go.’
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