Other bank bosses have faced more serious accusations without suffering the same level of political backlash
Watching the spectacle that has played out over the past fortnight over Nigel Farage and his Coutts bank accounts, which resulted in the forced exit of one of the UK’s most high-profile and effective corporate leaders, two questions strike me: has the response been proportionate, and if not, why not?
Alison Rose, who resigned on Wednesday as chief executive of NatWest Group, which owns Coutts, clearly made a serious error of judgment in discussing the former Ukip leader’s case with a journalist. It was an error she accepted and for which she readily apologised. But rather than allowing for any due process, loud voices have followed this story doggedly, with the effect that her resignation was all but assured. Those commenting have included the City minister, the home secretary, and the prime minister himself. Of course, the government is the shareholder in NatWest, after bailing out the bank during the financial crisis.
Ann Francke is the chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute
