NatWest defends appointing insider to run bank

NATWEST’S chairman Sir Howard Davies has defended appointing an insider as the bank’s new chief executive in the wake of the debanking crisis.

Sir Howard confirmed Paul Thwaite, a NatWest veteran who previously ran its commercial bank, as Dame Alison Rose’s permanent replacement yesterday.

Dame Alison left the taxpayer-owned bank last summer after disclosing details to a BBC journalist about Nigel Farage’s spat with Coutts, the private bank owned by NatWest which pushed him out and triggered the crisis.

Sir Howard said yesterday: “Paul was not involved in this matter. Before he was handling the corporate bank, he was not responsible for the private bank. I’m entirely confident that he has the down-to-earth and straightforward approach needed to drive change in the bank where change is needed and that is what he is engaged in.”

Mr Thwaite, 52, has been at NatWest for nearly 30 years.

Mr Farage, the former Ukip leader, was told in June last year his account was to be closed with little explanation.

Internal papers released by the bank subsequently showed staff had accused Mr Farage of being “xenophobic and racist”. He was also labelled a “grifter”.

Following the appointment yesterday, Mr Farage said: “Whether Paul Thwaite was directly involved in my situation or not, he still represents an old guard. This is not radical change. It’s

‘He still represents an old guard.

This is not a radical change. It’s not good enough’

as if NatWest has said the issue has gone away and we’ll carry on as if nothing has happened. It’s not good enough.”

Mr Thwaite takes over at a pivotal moment for the bank, with Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, preparing to sell shares in the bank to the public over summer. The Government owns a 35pc stake in NatWest and is planning to offload its stake later this year in a “Tell Sid”-style campaign echoing the privatisations of the Thatcher government. The sale could come as soon as June.

However, Mr Farage has threatened to derail the process.

He has said he is preparing to sue the bank over his treatment and has said NatWest needs to demonstrate more fundamental change before shares are sold to the public. Sir Howard declined to comment on possible legal action from Mr Farage over the issue. He said the findings of a Travers Smith review into failing at NatWest were “actively” being implemented, including some changes to the bank’s “culture”.

Mr Thwaite said the share sale was a matter for the Government but he was focused on “ambitious” plans for the bank, which has 19m customers.

Rick Haythornthwaite, who will take over from Sir Howard in April, led the search for Dame Alison’s successor.”

Mr Thwaite will earn a base salary of £1.5m, and a similar amount in fixed share allowances and pension allowance. NatWest posted a jump in annual profits yesterday helped by higher interest rates. Pre-tax operating profit was £6.2bn, up from £5.1bn in 2022.