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☆ NatWest profit jumps 20% as Thwaite confirmed as CEO
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of NatWest, a retail unit of RBS, outside a bank branch in London, U.K., on Tuesday, June 26, 2012. British bank NatWest confirmed Paul Thwaite as its permanent chief executive on Friday and reported forecast-beating profit for 2023, as it gears up for a crunch sale of state-owned stock in the company after a scandal-hit year. The taxpayer-backed lender reported pre-tax profit of 6.2 billion pounds ($7.81 billion) for the 12-month period, up 20% on 5.1 billion pounds the prior year and ahead of a 5.95 billion pounds average of analyst forecasts compiled by the bank. NatWest also announced a final dividend of 11.5 pence per share and a share buyback of 300 million pounds. NatWest set aside 578 million pounds for potential soured loans, up from 337 million pounds the prior year - but the figure came in below analyst forecasts.

Persons: Paul Thwaite, Thwaite, Alison Rose, Nigel Farage, Rose, Peter Flavel Organizations: NatWest, RBS, Brexit Party Locations: London

A man walks past ATM machines at branch of the NatWest bank in Manchester, Britain September 21, 2017. The bank's shares fell as much as 18% in early trading before closing down 12% - their largest daily drop since the Brexit vote in June, 2016. Farage said in a statement on Friday that he viewed the report as a "whitewash" and its findings "laughable". She added that the review showed she did not leak detailed financial information and had been unaware of "deeply unpleasant and unfair" internal staff comments made about Farage. A NatWest document unearthed by Farage in July found that an internal committee had deemed his views did not align with the bank's own.

Persons: Phil Noble, Nigel Farage, Coutts, Farage, Alison Rose, Travers Smith, Howard Davies, Rose, Mr Farage, Davies, Paul Thwaite, Rick Haythornthwaite, Iain Withers, Lawrence White, Samuel Indyk, Jason Neely, Sharon Singleton, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: NatWest, REUTERS, Financial Conduct Authority, Barclays, Rival, Lloyds, Thomson Locations: Manchester, Britain

☆ UK watchdog finds potential NatWest 'regulatory breaches' in Farage fiasco
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Iain Withers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Signage is seen for the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), the UK's financial regulatory body, at their head offices in London, Britain March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - British watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority said on Friday that it had identified potential "regulatory breaches" in NatWest's handling of a decision to close former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage's accounts. NatWest said it would disclose a decision on whether to dock its former CEO Alison Rose's pay over the matter "as soon as possible". "This report, and additional information we have considered, has highlighted potential regulatory breaches and a number of areas for improvement," the FCA said in a statement, adding it was reviewing the firm's governance, systems and controls. Reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Iain Withers, editing by Lawrence WhiteOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Toby Melville, Nigel Farage's, Farage, Alison Rose's, Travers Smith, Alison Rose, Carolyn Cohn, Iain Withers, Lawrence White Organizations: FCA, Financial, Authority, REUTERS, British, NatWest, Thomson Locations: London, Britain

"The culture wars are coming to UK businesses, including the financial sector," said Andre Spicer, dean of City University's Bayes Business School. It also cited "risk factors including... controversial public statements which were felt to conflict with the bank's purpose". However, data from watchdog the Financial Ombudsman Service showed complaints about account closures represented a tiny fraction of a bank's overall customer base. Experts say other banks will now be scrambling to ensure their own policies and committees are behaving appropriately, to avoid further scandals. The CEO of Britain's biggest domestic bank Lloyds said on Wednesday the bank's own policies did not include looking at customers' political or personal beliefs.

Persons: Nigel Farage, Coutts, Andre Spicer, Howard Davies, Alison Rose, Rose, Peter Flavel, Charles Dickens, Queen Elizabeth II, Spicer, Harriet Baldwin, Bill Winters, Samuel Gregg, Banks, Gregg, University's Spicer, Rupert Younger, ", Sinead Cruise, Iain Withers, Lawrence White, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Brexit Party, NatWest, Bayes Business School, Coutts, Treasury, Bank of England, BBC, Standard Chartered, Farage, American Institute for Economic Research, Facebook, Financial, Service, Barclays, Lloyds, Centre, Oxford University's Said Business School, Thomson Locations: America

Davies said he intended to stay on at the bank for now - after also facing calls to resign - and confirmed for the first time that political pressure forced the board's hand in Rose's exit. "The political reaction to that was such... that her position was then untenable," he told reporters. Britain's finance ministry said the decision for Rose to depart was made by her and the bank's board. "The NatWest board is responsible for the bank's strategic and operational management," a Treasury spokesperson said. ($1 = 0.7820 pounds)Reporting by Iain Withers and Lawrence White, editing by Sinead Cruise and Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Davies, Nigel Farage's, Rose, Howard Davies, Alison Rose, Nigel Farage, Coutts, Peter Flavel, We've, Alison, Travers Smith, Paul Thwaite, Iain Withers, Lawrence White, Sinead Cruise, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: NatWest, Rose NatWest, BBC, Treasury, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Britain's, Rose's, Britain

[1/2] A man walks past ATM machines at branch of the NatWest bank in Manchester, Britain September 21, 2017. Davies said he intended to stay at the bank for now and confirmed for the first time on Friday that political pressure had played a part in Rose's exit. "The political reaction to retaining Alison as CEO was such that her position was untenable," he told reporters. NatWest reported pre-tax profit of 3.6 billion pounds ($4.6 billion) for the period, compared to 2.6 billion pounds the prior year and above the 3.3 billion pound average of analyst forecasts compiled by the bank. NatWest booked a 233 million pounds charge for potential loan defaults - compared to the release of 54 million pounds last year - and lowered its net interest margin forecast for the year to below 3.2%, with an expectation of it hitting 3.15%.

Persons: Phil Noble, Davies, Nigel Farage's, Rose, Howard Davies, Alison Rose, Nigel Farage, Coutts, Peter Flavel, Alison, We've, NatWest's, Paul Thwaite, Thwaite, Iain Withers, Lawrence White, Sinead Cruise, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: NatWest, REUTERS, Rose NatWest, BBC, Reuters, Rivals Barclays, Lloyds, Barclays, Thomson Locations: Manchester, Britain, Britain's, Rose's

The ousting of Flavel is one of the first actions taken by NatWest's interim CEO Paul Thwaite, after the group's former CEO Alison Rose quit on Wednesday over the same matter. NatWest has faced intense scrutiny over the decision by Coutts to sever ties with Farage. An internal review obtained by the politician-turned-TV show host showed Coutts' wealth reputational risk committee had said his values did not align with the bank's own. Australian-born Flavel, who previously served as CEO of JPMorgan Private Wealth Management in Asia Pacific region, took the top job at Coutts in 2016. Mohammad Kamal Syed will step into the role of interim CEO of Coutts and NatWest's wealth businesses, Thwaite said, adding that Flavel was stepping down by "mutual consent".

Persons: Coutts, Peter Flavel, Nigel Farage's, Flavel, Paul Thwaite, Alison Rose, Rose, she'd, Farage, Howard Davies, Charles Dickens, Queen Elizabeth II, Mohammad Kamal Syed, Thwaite, Iain Withers, Sinead Cruise, Lawrence White Organizations: NatWest, BBC, Reuters, JPMorgan Private Wealth Management, Thomson Locations: Asia Pacific

☆ NatWest CEO resigns after admitting to 'serious error' over Nigel Farage leak
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

NatWest CEO Alison Rose on Wednesday stepped down with immediate effect after she admitted a "serious error of judgment" in discussing former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage's relationship with the bank with a senior BBC journalist. The board appointed Paul Thwaite to helm NatWest for an initial period of 12 months, the company said in a statement. "The board and Alison Rose have agreed, by mutual consent, that she will step down as CEO of the NatWest Group," Howard Davies, chairman of the board, said. Coutts' website advises its clients should be able to borrow or invest at least 1 million pounds with the bank or hold 3 million pounds in savings. Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it had urged the NatWest board to review the matter independently and welcomed its statement.

Persons: Alison Rose, Nigel Farage's, Paul Thwaite, Howard Davies, Coutts, Rose, Farage, Peter Flavel, NatWest's Davies, Davies, Rose —, Simon Jack, Jack, Sheldon Mills, Andrew Griffith Organizations: NatWest, BBC, NatWest Group, BBC Business, Authority, Treasury, Reuters, Government Investments

NatWest lifer Rose climbed up the ranks over more than three decades from graduate trainee to boardroom, becoming the first woman to run one of Britain's major banks. "You can be a hero one day, a zero the next, as Alison Rose has found out." Davies lamented the "sad moment" while Rose paid tribute to colleagues who had helped her build solid foundations for the bank, in a statement accompanying the news. RBS TO NATWESTRose succeeded Ross McEwan as CEO of NatWest in 2019, becoming the lender's first female boss. But under Rose's supervision, the bank became one of Britain's biggest participants in government-designed loan schemes to keep ailing businesses afloat.

Persons: Alison Rose, Nigel Farage, NatWest lifer Rose, Coutts, Rishi Sunak, Rupert Younger, Rose, Howard Davies, Rose's, Davies, Charlie Nunn, Farage, impinging, NATWEST Rose, Ross McEwan, McEwan, Stephen Hester, Fred Goodwin, Lawrence White, Conor Humphries Organizations: NatWest's, Brexit Party, NatWest, Oxford University's, Lloyds Banking Group, Britain's, RBS, NATWEST, Royal Bank of Scotland, Thomson Locations: Europe, Westminster, Britain

NatWest has faced intense political and media scrutiny over a decision by its private bank Coutts to close Farage's accounts. In a post on the X social media platform on Wednesday, Farage called for further heads to roll in the wake of Rose's resignation. On Tuesday, Farage said on his eponymous TV show that Rose was "unfit" to run a bank. She realised that her comments had left Jack with the impression that the decision to close Farage's accounts was solely a commercial one, Rose said in the statement. Rose also said she was not part of the decision-making process to "exit" Farage's accounts and said this was a decision made by Coutts.

Persons: Alison Rose, Nigel Farage's, Paul Thwaite, Coutts, Farage, Rose, Simon Jack, Howard Davies, Davies, Peter Flavel, Jack, NatWest's, Sheldon Mills, Andrew Griffith, Iain Withers, Sinead Cruise, Urvi, Juby Babu, Simon Jessop, Mark Potter, Edwina Gibbs, Louise Heavens Organizations: NatWest, BBC, BBC Business, UK Treasury, Reuters, Government Investments, Authority, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

NatWest said the reduction in its deposits, however, mainly reflected the axing of its underperforming Irish arm Ulster and higher customer tax bills. Deposits across its consumer, business and private bank nonetheless fell 11.1 billion pounds. NatWest, meanwhile, reported pretax profit that leapt 49% to 1.8 billion pounds ($2.24 billion), above an average of analyst forecasts of 1.6 billion pounds. Rising interest rates boosted NatWest's income by 29% to 3.9 billion pounds, but analysts said this narrowly missed expectations and they had hoped for an upgraded outlook. ($1 = 0.8028 pounds)Reporting by Iain Withers, Editing by Sinead Cruise and Lawrence WhiteOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fed showing signs it won't hike rates in May, says NatWest's Michelle Girard
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFed showing signs it won't hike rates in May, says NatWest's Michelle GirardCNBC's Steve Liesman and Michelle Girard, NatWest Markets head of U.S., joins 'The Exchange' to discuss the cooler than expected PPI read.

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - The British government has extended a trading plan to help cut the taxpayer's stake in NatWest (NWG.L) by another two years, as it chips away at its remaining 41.5% holding with small sales after a recent bout of global banking volatility. The trading plan involves drip-feeding further stock into the market and is one of the government's main methods of reducing its stake. Britain's finance ministry said on Monday its trading plan had been extended to Aug. 11, 2025 and would continue to be run by investment bank Morgan Stanley (MS.N). Under the plan, the government can sell up to 15% of its stake in the company over the two-year period. Around 3.7 billion pounds has been raised by selling shares under the plan to date, the finance ministry added.

☆ Fed will be more aggressive starting in March with a 50bps hike, says NatWest's Michelle Girard
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFed will be more aggressive starting in March with a 50bps hike, says NatWest's Michelle GirardMichelle Girard, NatWest Markets, joins 'The Exchange' to discuss her expectation that the Fed will be more hawkish as inflation reports continue to be hot.

Instead, despite reporting robust profits, banks' shares have broadly stumbled as they forecast margin pressure, suggesting intensifying competition for customers' deposits and mortage business to come. "It may be that we've seen the peak of margin," said William Chalmers, finance chief of Britain's biggest domestic bank Lloyds (LLOY.L) on Wednesday. Lenders say they have started to pass on higher rates to savers, adding that profitability is rebounding after years of low margins. Pressure to immediately increase the rates banks pay savers has been intensified by the digital offerings from U.S. entrants into the market such as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, executives at the top British lenders said. In contrast to floating rates, which broadly track the Bank of England benchmark, fixed mortgage rates have started to fall as competition intensifies.

☆ NatWest to buy workplace savings fintech Cushon for $174 mln
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - NatWest will buy an 85% stake in workplace savings account provider Cushon for 144 million pounds ($174 million), the British bank said on Monday, as it seeks to grow its product offering to businesses. Cushon's primary products are savings accounts and pensions, NatWest said, allowing the bank to offer a new range of financial products to commercial customers and to their staff. NatWest Chief Executive Alison Rose last year said the bank was on the hunt for such deals, especially in the wealth management sector. Cushon products will at first be offered to NatWest's mid-market corporate customers, following a succesful test last year, the lender said. ($1 = 0.8264 pounds)Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Jan Harvey and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ NatWest set to raise bonus pool above 350 million pounds
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - British taxpayer-backed bank NatWest (NWG.L) is set to raise its 2022 bonus pool for staff to between 350-400 million pounds ($420-480 million), a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The pool would represent an increase of up to around a third on the 298 million pounds paid out to staff the previous year and comes amid heightened political scrutiny of whether banks are doing enough to support customers during Britain's cost of living crisis. Sky News first reported Natwest's planned bonus pool increase. It would be NatWest's second straight annual bonus pool increase, although the bank said in its 2021 accounts that the pool had been limited to reflect a 265 million pound fine for anti-money laundering failings. NatWest's bonuses are subject to a stricter cap than rivals and the overall pool is typically lower than lenders with large investment banks.

☆ Watch CNBC's full interview with NatWest's Michelle Girard and Bleakley's Peter Boockvar
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWatch CNBC's full interview with NatWest's Michelle Girard and Bleakley's Peter BoockvarMichelle Girard, head of U.S. at NatWest Markets, and Peter Boockvar, CIO of Bleakley Financial Group, join 'The Exchange' to discuss the pace of job hiring in the U.S., Fed action and wages.

☆ Bank floats $10 bln Brazilian bond plan to halt Amazon deforestation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Strategists at a UK bank have proposed the idea of a super-sized $10 billion Brazilian government bond that would be specifically designed to help halt the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Stopping deforestation of the Amazon, which absorbs vast amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gas, is part of Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's sweeping plan to reclaim leadership on climate change measures. Money raised via sustainability-linked debt can be used for almost any purpose. "As a reference, a 2034 Brazilian bond is currently yielding around 6.35%, making the step up/down feature potentially financially material for Brazil," Vivanco's initial outline of the plan last week said. "If Lula goes around the world selling this bond, you would have to have a reason not to be part of it," Vivanco said.

☆ NatWest lifts staff pay after cost of living backlash
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Iain Withers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] The logo of NatWest Bank, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland group is seen outside a branch in Enfield, London Britain November 15, 2017. Britain's biggest domestic bank Lloyds offered a similar deal of a minimum 2,000 pound pay rise earlier this month. NatWest's shares plunged as much as 10% when it warned of rising costs next year in its third-quarter results on Oct 28, which Rose put down to the need to pay staff more. Pay offers for staff on higher pay bands in Britain were not included in the negotiations with unions. NatWest staff based overseas will be offered the local cash equivalent of the 1,000 pounds lump sum planned in Britain, the memo added.

☆ Banker with cancer claims $5 million from NatWest over dismissal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Kirstin Ridley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Cancer is listed as a disability under the UK Equality Act 2010, protecting sufferers from discrimination. Lawyers for NatWest and the 44-year-old risk and compliance officer clashed on Monday at the Central London Employment Tribunal over document disclosures relating to her income since she left the bank. The case is unusual because most employment claims are settled out of court. Charles Crow, a lawyer for NatWest, conceded Willis's team could have been told earlier how many experts the bank was now calling. "We recognise the extremely difficult personal circumstances in this case and that there were things the bank did not get right," a NatWest spokesperson said.

☆ Banker with cancer claims $5 million from NatWest for unfair dismissal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Kirstin Ridley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A former senior banker is suing NatWest (NWG.L) for around 4.3 million pounds ($5.2 million) after a London judge ruled that she was unfairly dismissed only days after cancer surgery. Cancer is listed as a disability under the UK Equality Act 2010, protecting sufferers from discrimination. There's not a cat in hell's chance of dealing with this case in two days," Gilroy said. Charles Crow, a lawyer for NatWest, conceded Willis's team could have been told earlier how many experts the bank was now calling. But both sides should have realised that a two-day hearing would not be enough to deal with disagreements, he said.

☆ Michelle Girard and Priya Misra break down today's Fed policy meeting
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNatWest's Girard and TD Securities' Misra break down what to expect from today's Fed policy meetingMichelle Girard, Head of U.S. at NatWest Markets, and Priya Misra, Global Head of Rates Strategy at TD Securities, join Worldwide Exchange to discuss their expectations for the Federal Reserve's November interest rate decision.

chartchartA short position is essentially a wager that an asset's price will fall, and a long position is a bet it will rise. In aggregate, funds' short position of almost 125,000 contracts is the largest since November last year. But it failed to materially reduce the net speculative wager because funds also substantially reduced their long yen position. Ultimately, funds trimmed their net short yen position by only a few thousand contracts following the Sept. 22 intervention. The latest CFTC data shows they evidently felt confident enough to load up on short yen positions again.

But it is unclear how many lenders are tapping the facility and whether pension funds are willing to shell out additional fees for what is a temporary solution, sources told Reuters. Banks are reluctant to increase their lending to LDI funds through the repo facility, according to one official at a European bank. BRIDGING THE GAPLDI is an investment strategy sold by asset managers like BlackRock, Legal & General Investment Management and Insight Investment to pension schemes to help them match their assets and liabilities. Governor Andrew Bailey has rejected calls to continue buying bonds from pension funds which say they still need support beyond Friday. "It's a bridging tool that they can still use to keep the dialogue with the market and the pension funds going."

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