NatWest and Nigel Farage settle his lawsuit. This follows the highly controversial closure of Farage’s bank account. The fight started back in 2023 when the bank closed Farage’s personal account. That meant it implicated Coutts, a highly exclusive private bank owned by NatWest that serves rich clients. The settlement arrives nearly twenty months after the original shutdown, putting an end to a high-profile public dispute that gained national interest.
The stormstorm started when prominent Brexiteer Nigel Farage announced that Coutts was planning to shut down his account. To accomplish this, they did so without providing an adequate rationale. Farage subsequently received a report from NatWest confirming that his political beliefs were taken into account during the decision-making process. In addition to these refusals, he was refused personal and business accounts by seven other banks in the UK.
In response, NatWest said it had “serious failings” in dealing with Farage’s case, and accepted that it failed to communicate its decision appropriately. The situation escalated when Dame Alison Rose, NatWest's chief executive at the time, admitted to making a mistake by discussing Farage's relationship with the bank. This admission spurred her resignation in July 2023.
Farage’s account with the wealthy UK bank Coutts was closed because he failed the minimum level of wealth that the bank required its account holders to maintain. Yet the accounts — rallying around the lack of transparency and dismissal of his political background — gave the issue serious momentum. An independent report commissioned by the bank found that NatWest had not clearly explained its rationale for closing the account.
In a joint statement, both parties expressed satisfaction over resolving the issue:
"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." – NatWest Group and Nigel Farage MP
