NatWest has announced that a former Centrica boss will be its next chair, as the lender continues to deal with the fallout from the scandal surrounding the threatened closure of Nigel Farage’s bank accounts.
Rick Haythornthwaite – who previously chaired Network Rail and Mastercard as well as the British Gas owner and now leads the boardrooms of Ocado and the AA – will succeed Howard Davies, the bank announced on Wednesday.
Mark Seligman, senior independent director, said: “Rick is a highly experienced chair who combines a successful commercial career with a deep knowledge of financial services markets and technology, as well as a strong track record of delivery at significant customer-facing organisations.”
However, the 66-year-old’s appointment is not expected to hasten the departure of Davies, whose position as chair has been thrown into question because of the row with the former Ukip party leader.
Davies was already due to retire from his post by the summer of 2024, and is likely to leave before the next AGM, usually held in April. He said in July this year that the search for his successor would continue in a “completely normal” manner.
That was despite mounting speculation that Davies could be pushed and follow in the footsteps of NatWest’s now ex-chief executive Alison Rose, who resigned on 26 July, amid government pressure over the Farage banking scandal.
It came weeks after it emerged that Coutts – the NatWest-owned private bank for the ultra-wealthy – had planned to shut Farage’s bank account, a decision that the former Ukip leader says has since been reversed.
Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, Farage continued to call for Davies’s resignation on Wednesday. “The idea that Sir Howard Davies is being allowed to see out his term as chairman of NatWest Group is a classic case of the establishment closing ranks. Both Alison Rose and Howard Davies should have been sacked.”
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The idea that Sir Howard Davies is being allowed to see out his term as chairman of @NatWestGroup is a classic case of the establishment closing ranks. Both Alison Rose and Howard Davies should have been sacked. https://t.co/edesXORuh0
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) September 6, 2023
The UK government is NatWest’s largest shareholder, with a 38.5% stake, having stepped in to protect savers by bailing out the lender during the 2008 financial crisis.
Davies, 72, is a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, and was director of the London School of Economics before joining NatWest as chair in September 2015. He was also the inaugural chair of the City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority, before it was disbanded after the 2008 financial crisis and revived, in part, through the Financial Conduct Authority.
