11 June 2024

Ex-NatWest boss Dame Alison Rose takes on role after quitting over debanking row

11 June 2024

Former NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose has been appointed at a private equity firm nearly a year after resigning from her post at the helm of the lending giant over the Nigel Farage debanking scandal.

Dame Alison has been hired by private equity firm Charterhouse as a senior adviser and started in the role last month.

Her appointment at the firm comes after Dame Alison was forced to step down from NatWest following a row over the closure of Mr Farage’s account with Coutts, the private bank run by NatWest.

Ms Rose had led the company for four years as chief executive, but resigned in July last year after she admitted being the source of an inaccurate story about Mr Farage’s finances following a discussion with a BBC journalist.

She was cleared of misconduct by NatWest over the saga, but the bank scrapped about £7.6 million in potential payouts to Dame Alison after her departure.

The former boss will nevertheless get £2.4 million for 12 months’ worth of pay and benefits plus around £800,000 for former bonus shares that were due to vest in March.

Dame Alison could have been eligible for a further £4.7 million worth of shares and almost £2.9 million in variable pay awards.

She became the first woman to take the top job at one of the UK’s big four banks when she was appointed at the then Royal Bank of Scotland in 2019.

She presided over the group’s name change to NatWest in July 2020.

Dame Alison was replaced by Paul Thwaite, the bank’s former chief executive of commercial and institutional business.

Charterhouse declined to comment.

The best videos delivered daily

Watch the stories that matter, right from your inbox