There will be a review, but what assurances do customers have in the meantime that they will not be similarly penalised for their opinions?
Dame Alison Rose, chief executive of Coutts’ parent company NatWest, will be hoping that her apology to Nigel Farage will put to bed a row that had begun to engulf her bank. She called comments made about the former Ukip leader in documents prepared for a Coutts committee “deeply inappropriate” and emphasised her support for freedom of expression. While welcome, however, it is unlikely to be the end of the matter. Both Mr Farage and the public are still owed a full explanation as to what happened.
NatWest remains partly owned by the state. In fact, the Government is its biggest shareholder, though it is managed on an arm’s-length commercial basis. This means that ministers, on behalf of the public, have a legitimate interest in the governance of the bank if it appears that the regulator is not properly discharging its duties.
There are also many questions that have not yet been answered. Until yesterday, NatWest and Coutts claimed that client confidentiality prevented them from commenting, yet that did not stop someone erroneously briefing the BBC that Mr Farage’s account had been closed because he had insufficient funds. The story appeared after Dame Alison sat beside a BBC journalist at a charity dinner. This may be purely coincidental; but perhaps she would like to enlighten us.
What of the substance of what happened to Mr Farage? Dame Alison writes that the comments made about him “do not reflect the view of the bank”, and that “it is absolutely not our policy to exit a customer on the basis of legally held political and personal views”. Why, then, did precisely that take place? She has promised a review into Coutts’ internal processes, but what assurances do customers have in the meantime that they will not be similarly penalised for their opinions? The BBC must also account for its failings, particularly now that Jon Sopel, one of its former presenters, has apologised to Mr Farage for believing its incorrect reporting.