Rick Haythornthwaite is about to be the brand new chair of NatWest Group following a row over the de-banking of former UKIP chief Nigel Farage two months in the past.
Haythornthwaite, who has beforehand been chair of Mastercard, Railsr, Centrica and Community Rail, and is at the moment chair of Ocado and Embedded Finance, will succeed Sir Howard Davies.
He’ll be part of NatWest’s board initially of the brand new yr and take over from Davies in April.
NatWest has suffered a tough few months after Dame Alison Rose, the financial institution’s former CEO, incorrectly briefed a BBC journalist on the closure of Farage’s Coutts accounts, which led to an inaccurate story and her eventual resignation.
Coutts CEO Peter Flavel stepped down the following day, bearing “final duty” for the debacle.
Davies was already set to retire and stated in April that he would depart the financial institution the next yr as deliberate, regardless of calls to go away sooner.
“My intention is to proceed to steer the board,” Davies stated when Rose and Flavel stepped down.
“My understanding is that we do have the assist of our foremost shareholder and of the regulators, for us to proceed to steer this financial institution ahead.”
The federal government holds the bulk stake in NatWest at 38.5 per cent, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declined to again Davies when immediately requested.
“I’m inheriting a really totally different NatWest in comparison with my predecessor; one that’s extra buyer targeted, financially resilient and properly positioned to take care of its latest sturdy efficiency,” Haythornthwaite stated.
“I stay up for working with the Board to construct on the distinctive progress made, so we are able to proceed to assist the UK financial system and ship for our clients and stakeholders.”
