Nigel Farage has settled his high-profile dispute with NatWest Group, nearly two years after the bank closed his accounts and triggered a row that ended with the resignation of the lender’s chief executive.
Dame Alison Rose stood down from the bank in July 2023 after she admitted being the source of an inaccurate BBC story about the reasons Farage had been “debanked”, for which she then issued an apology.
The story had stated that the politician’s accounts had been closed due to him falling below the wealth threshold required to be a customer of Coutts, NatWest’s private banking arm.
However, while a dossier obtained by Farage using a subject access request showed his personal finances were one reason why his accounts could be closed, the document also showed that media coverage of his political views was discussed while considering if he should be retained as a client.
The MP and leader of Reform UK had threatened legal action but the parties have now settled their dispute, in a development first reported by Sky News.
A statement, jointly issued by the bank and the politician, said: “NatWest Group and Nigel Farage MP are pleased to confirm that they have resolved and settled their dispute and the bank has apologised to Mr Farage. The terms of settlement are confidential.”
Rose said in her statement in 2023 that she made a “serious error of judgment” during a conversation with Simon Jack, the BBC News business editor, in which she confirmed the bank had taken a “commercial decision” in shutting Farage’s Coutts accounts and offering him a NatWest account.
It was subsequently reported by the BBC that Farage had been expelled from the bank because its customers were required to hold £3m in savings, or to borrow or invest £1m.
She added: “Put simply, I was wrong to respond to any question raised by the BBC about this case. I want to extend my sincere apologies to Mr Farage for the personal hurt this has caused him.”
NatWest later scrapped almost £7.6m in potential payouts to Rose.
