NatWest Group’s ousted chief executive Alison Rose is in line for a pay package worth more than £2.4m, despite being forced to resign last month over a scandal linked to the threatened closure of Nigel Farage’s bank accounts.
The bank, which is 38.5% owned by the taxpayer, said it would continue to pay Rose while she served a 12-month notice period, as stipulated in her employment contract.
That includes a near-£1.2m cash salary, £115,566 in pension payments, and around £1.2m of NatWest shares. It will also give Rose access to about £26,250 worth of benefits, which can include a company car and chauffeur, life assurance, and personal security, and she could still receive bonuses on top of her fixed pay package. Last year, NatWest was criticised for handing her a £5.2m pay package.
However, NatWest said Rose’s notice period would continue to be under review and her pay would be subject to clawback rules, meaning the bank could order her to return a portion of her previous pay if there was evidence of wrongdoing.
Those decisions are likely to be heavily influenced by the outcome of internal and external investigations into the scandal surrounding the former Ukip leader’s accounts, which are expected to run until the end of October.
The wide-ranging review will include an investigation into information that Rose shared with a BBC reporter regarding Farage’s accounts.
NatWest said: “Like other employees where an investigation outcome is pending, Alison Rose is currently receiving her fixed pay. This in line with her contractual notice period and remains under continual review, as the independent investigation continues.
“As previously confirmed, no decision on her remuneration will be taken until the relevant investigations are complete.”
Farage shared a video on Twitter, now known as X, condemning the bank for its payout decision. In the clip he said: “When I heard the news, I thought perhaps it was a sick joke. Surely you cannot breach client confidentiality … and still receive a £2.4m payout, and yet that’s exactly what’s happened with Alison Rose.”
The £2.4m payout to Dame Alison Rose is a sick joke. This is the corrupt British establishment looking after its own. pic.twitter.com/EljcDWlA3U
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) August 23, 2023
Luke Hildyard, the director of the High Pay Centre thinktank, said Rose’s payout was “totally galling as a reward for a serious error of judgment. But even if Rose is forced to forgo it, she will still have over £11m from her time as CEO to fall back on.
“What the case really shows is that executives and other top earners are normal, fallible individuals who can make these kind of mistakes. Some navigate their tenure successfully, some don’t but none merit the superhuman pay awards or the outsized share of total incomes that they consume.”
Rose fell on her sword on 26 July, weeks after it emerged that Coutts – the NatWest-owned private bank for the ultra-wealthy – had planned to shut Farage’s bank accounts.
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It escalated into a freedom of speech row after Farage obtained documents showing that while the former Ukip leader had for some time been below its commercial criteria – requiring customers to have £3m in savings or £1m in loans or investments – Coutts was also concerned that his alleged “xenophobic, chauvinistic and racist views” posed a reputational risk.
Rose personally apologised to Farage over the wording of the document but government anger over her admission that she had discussed Farage’s case with a BBC reporter, in an apparent breach of client confidentiality, led to her resignation hours later. The Coutts chief executive, Peter Flavel, was ousted the following day.
NatWest, which has since offered to keep Farage’s Coutts accounts open, is pushing ahead with its investigation. The inquiry is being led by the law firm Travers Smith and will look into any leaks of confidential customer information to the media, and why Farage’s accounts at Coutts were under consideration to be closed. It will also review how internal reports about his political views and actions were compiled.
Meanwhile, the banking group also confirmed the pay arrangements for Rose’s temporary replacement, Paul Thwaite, who is serving as chief executive for at least 12 months. NatWest said Thwaite could be in line for a pay package worth more than £4.86m.
That includes a £1.05m salary, and £1.05m worth of NatWest shares. He can also earn up to £1.05m worth of bonuses and up to £1.58m worth of shares as part of a separate reward scheme. That is on top of £105,000 in pension payments, and £26,250 in personal benefits that can include a personal driver.
He could also be in line for additional bonuses related to his previous role as head of the group’s commercial banking arm.
