Dame Alison Rose, CEO of the NatWest banking group, has resigned today following the sharing of information about Nigel Farage’s relationship with high net worth NatWest arm Coutts.

Dame Alison has come under pressure to resign from Nigel Farage and MPs who had shared concerns over her sharing inaccurate information with the BBC.

Mr Farage, former leader of the UKIP political party and a prominent Brexit campaigner, had reported earlier this month that his account with Coutts had been closed without him being given a reason.

On Monday Dame Alison admitted to being the source of an inaccurate BBC story which said Mr Farage’s account had been closed as he no longer met the wealth threshold for Coutts.

Dame Alison apologised yesterday for the breach of information. Initially the board backed her but she decided overnight to go.

Mr Farage has called for the entire NatWest board to resign.

Dame Alison will be replaced by Paul Thwaite, the current CEO of the commercial and institutional business, for an initial period of 12 months while a permanent successor is found.

Coutts has a significant Financial Planning arm through its wealth management services division.

The wealth manager and private bank appointed former Nutmeg executive director of wealth services Laura Kingman to take on its newly-created role of head of Financial Planning earlier this month. 

Ms Kingman will head a business of 40 Financial Planners and team leaders, who will report directly to her.

Coutts said the new role will enable it to deepen its relationships with clients and provide access to Financial Planning experts with specialist knowledge of their wealth management needs.

Coutts is a wealth manager and private bank with three centuries of experience, providing customised solutions for its upmarket clients. They include discretionary and advisory investment management services as well as advice on philanthropy, family businesses, succession planning and commercial banking services to corporate clients. 

Headquartered in London, Coutts is part of NatWest’s wealth businesses.

NatWest’s wealth arm also includes workplace savings and pensions fintech Cushon, which it acquired in February for £144m.

Cushon’s primary products are its workplace pension and range of workplace ISAs, including junior ISAs, lifetime ISAs and general investment accounts.