Dame Alison Rose until recently told colleagues she had weathered more than her fair share of crises, steering the state-backed lender through the COVID-19 pandemic and market fallout from war in Europe and chaos in Westminster. But it was committing the cardinal sin of breaching a client’s confidence, former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, that ultimately cost her her job at NatWest.
She stepped down from the taxpayer-backed bank on Wednesday after admitting to sharing sensitive information with public broadcaster the BBC about the decision to close his Coutts accounts. She said she made a severe error of judgment but claimed the details she shared were already in the public domain. She was also facing calls from senior Conservative MPs to resign or be sacked, with NatWest chairman Howard Davies lamenting the “sad moment.”
It is unclear what led to Dame Alison’s departure, but the move will likely fuel more calls for heads to roll at the bank, which is 85% owned by the British taxpayer. The embattled chief executive had been widely expected to step down after weeks of mounting controversy over how Coutts, the high-end private bank part of the NatWest group, closed Mr. Farage’s and other clients’ accounts because of their political views.
NatWest said Rose would be replaced by Paul Thwaite, who currently runs the bank’s commercial and institutional business, on an interim basis for 12 months. Despite the row, Ms. Rose was praised by colleagues for her leadership during a critical time, and she was honored with a damehood in recognition of her services to the banking industry. She had been a vocal advocate for female entrepreneurship and action by the financial sector on climate change.
The bank’s share price slid as much as 10% in early trading on Wednesday after the news emerged. But it has recovered to trade flat at midday, with investors pointing to its strong earnings as evidence of its resilience to the turmoil in the broader markets.
Other positive news for the banking sector came from a report in Nature that found new virus cases mainly stemmed from indoor gatherings and that low-income areas had higher outbreak rates than wealthier neighborhoods. The FDA also widened the approval of a saliva-based test that allows people to be tested for signs of infection, and a vaccine company, Moderna, reported a promising clinical trial for a novel vaccine that works using mRNA.
In the United States, the death toll from COVID-19 has passed 80,000 – although the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director says the 80,000 is likely an underestimate. The country has experienced five waves of the pandemic, and new variants are still circulating. The latest wave is driven by the more contagious Delta variant, which is more than twice as potent as the original coronavirus. It affects younger adults more than older people, and those with underlying health conditions are at greater risk of developing severe symptoms and complications.
