LONDON — Peter Flavel, CEO of luxury bank Coutts, became the latest senior British banking figure to resign amid a bitter row over Nigel Farage’s personal finances.
Flavel followed NatWest Group chief executive Alison Rose out the door Thursday as recriminations flew over the shuttering of the prominent Brexiteer’s account. Farage’s political views and public statements were listed as a factor in the account’s closure — despite initial reassurances from the bank to the contrary.
In a statement Thursday, new NatWest boss Paul Thwaite said Flavel “will step down as Coutts CEO and CEO of our Wealth Businesses by mutual consent with immediate effect.”
“Whilst I will be personally sorry to lose Peter as a colleague, I believe this is the right decision for Coutts and the wider Group,” he added.
In his own statement, Flavel said that “in the handling of Mr Farage’s case we have fallen below the bank’s high standards of personal service.
“As CEO of Coutts it is right that I bear ultimate responsibility for this, which is why I am stepping down,” he added.
It comes just a day after Rose left NatWest, which owns Coutts. She had admitted to being the source of an inaccurate BBC story on why Farage was dropped as a client by Coutts.
The British government — which made clear it had lost confidence in Rose — has rowed in behind Farage. Speaking to broadcasters Thursday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it “wasn’t right for people to be deprived of basic services like banking because of their views.
“This isn’t about any one individual, it’s about values – do you believe in free speech and not to be discriminated against because of your legally held views?” Sunak said.
The documents obtained by Farage show that a briefing presented to the bank’s “reputational risk committee” described him as having “xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views,” and cited his comments on Brexit and his friendship with Donald Trump as reasons he stood “at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation.”
