NatWest boss Alison Rose resigns over Nigel Farage bank account leak
The bank called the resignation a "sad moment" while Dame Alison thanked colleagues for all they had done to grow the business in the four years she was chief executive.
NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose has resigned after admitting to being the source of an inaccurate story about Nigel Farage's bank account.
Her four-year tenure as chief executive has ended in ignominy over her admission that she had discussed Mr Farage's bank details with a BBC journalist.
It sounds like an extraordinary blunder, but there is perhaps a hint of something else in there. What that may be can only be guessed at, but discussing Farage's bank details with a BBC journalist comes across as even worse than a horribly naïve blunder.
We might suppose that the CEO of a major bank can't possibly be that naïve but now we know otherwise. Which leaves us wondering how many other duds there are in equivalent positions. A large number would be a good starting point.
12 comments:
It's a warning to the Elite. You may (often) be insulated from your failings with all your class providing 'cover' but sometimes you pick on the wrong person who will expose you. Coutts biggest mistake was leaving a paper trail... and that has yet to be resolved.
I'll guess that if 'Fred Bloggs' had been debanked we would have heard nothing and any(!) restorative justice carried out quietly months later.
It passes comprehension that the rest of the Board, having supported her, does not resign in shame. How can shareholders and the public have confidence in a Board that circles the wagons in support of a mate that blundered? Of what supervisory use can they be?
The most amazing thing is not that a bank CEO tells BBC journalist some juicy bit of info about one of her clients while at a social event, one assumes that sort of off the record conversation happens to journalists all the time. People are indiscrete and blab when they shouldn't.
No, the most amazing thing is that she didn't have the sense to say 'Oh sorry, that was strictly off the record' when asked for confirmation the next day, but actually confirmed it, and said it was OK to publish it.
I'm torn as to whether its utter rank stupidity, or more the generalised animosity of the Establishment class (to which Alison Rose belongs naturally, she wouldn't get such a job otherwise) to people like Nigel Farage. Probably a combination of both. If there was a controversy about some member of the public who happened to be doing something dodgy with their Natwest bank account, and a BBC journalist questioned Rose about them at a dinner, I think she would have had the nous to say 'Sorry, client confidentiality, I can't comment I'm afraid'. Because there's nothing to be gained for her personally or her class by disclosing such information. But because its Farage, the bete noire of the Establishment, and making him look bad is a political 'win' for the Establishment 'team', then all rules go out the window.
Call me a cynic but I wonder if the 'deal' for Dame Alison Rose was:
1) Make an apology
2) The board will formally 'back' you
3) Then resign, and with the previous backing of the Board get another job when the dust has settled.
Does anybody know who is the taxpayers' representative on the NatWest board? As they own 36%, I presume that there is one.
What has he/her got to say?
We could save the Board the trouble of resigning by simply machine-gunning them. Or, less figuratively, we could buy a fleet of galleys and set them rowing for a five year stretch.
Naturally it would only be part of a wider scheme for depleting the ranks of the Establishment.
My prediction: after a few weeks on gardening leave, she’ll pop up in some even more exalted position, probably in the public sector.
Anyone betting against?
DJ - it appears that thousands of people have been debanked, but they aren't Farage and seem to hit a brick wall when they try to do something about it.
decnine - I agree, the Board should go.
Sobers - it does seem to be a combination of both, stupidity and Establishment dislike of Farage, although for such a senior professional, that too is stupid. As if she didn't really understand the dispassionate professional aspect of her role.
DJ - I'm sure she'll float into another job where her brand of unprofessional bias is a positive asset.
DAD - good point, whoever it is may be lying low.
dearieme - a long stretch of community service in a Hi Vis jacket could be an alternative. About ten years perhaps.
Peter - I certainly wouldn't bet against it. A charity or quango perhaps. No interview, just a tap on the shoulder.
My wife was bank manager in London clearing, when she started out at Midland Bank she had to sign a form of confidentiality, not to divulge any knowledge of personal or corporate affairs and nnot to discuss her position outside the bank, this applied to all employees right to the top.
Has this changed?, the weasel words in the small print of the Nat Westaccount holders statement would suggest that the new regime's choicw of the right sort of person as a customer would need much discussion among the employees to reach a conclusion, so confidentiality appears to have been discarded and replaced with a branch of lefty wokery groupthink.
Wiggia - and confidentiality ought to be a matter of professional standards. Imagine a doctor discussing Farage's medical history with a BBC reporter, or a lawyer discussing his Will. You are right, it's now a branch of lefty wokery groupthink.
An interesting take to add to this is that if she resigns, she gets the five mill etc., but if they actually sack her for what is clearly a GDPR issue, then she gets nothing!
There's plenty more of this to come, and when Signome Jack returns from his holiday, (or his scampering escape from the public eye), there will be some interesting discussions about why the BBC didn't understand the implications!
All grist tio the mill about the TV Tax being abolished!
Scrobs - five million and I bet she strolls into another job with no awkward questions. I suppose the BBC will just trundle on until there aren't enough licence payers then the taxpayer will pick up the bill.
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