Rick Haythornthwaite to be the new Chair of NatWest Group
Rick Haythornthwaite has been appointed as the new Chair of NatWest Group, following a controversy surrounding the de-banking of former UKIP leader Nigel Farage. Haythornthwaite, who has previously chaired companies like Mastercard, Railsr, Centrica, and Network Rail, is currently the Chair of Ocado and Embedded Finance. He will join NatWest’s board in the new year and take over from Sir Howard Davies in April.
NatWest has faced challenges in recent months, including an incident where the bank’s former CEO, Dame Alison Rose, provided incorrect information to a BBC journalist regarding the closure of Farage’s Coutts accounts. This led to an inaccurate story and Rose’s subsequent resignation. Coutts CEO Peter Flavel also stepped down, taking responsibility for the situation.
Davies, who was already planning to retire, confirmed his intention to leave the bank as planned. The majority stakeholder in NatWest, the government, did not publicly support Davies. Haythornthwaite acknowledges the changes within the bank and expresses his commitment to building on its recent performance to support the UK economy and serve customers and stakeholders.
