Coutts says finance director has left, exit not linked to Farage row

LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Coutts finance director Andrew Kyle has left the private bank owned by Britain’s NatWest, a company filing showed, in a resignation a spokesperson said was not linked to a recent row over the bank’s handling of high-profile customer Nigel Farage.

Kyle resigned in March, the spokesperson told Reuters on Monday, and Coutts is in the process of recruiting a successor, who it expects to announce in or around September. The spokesperson declined to give a reason for Kyle’s resignation.

Reuters was not immediately able to contact Kyle, who the Companies House filing says was born in August 1980, for comment on his resignation from Coutts.

Coutts CEO Peter Flavel said on July 27 he would leave after taking “ultimate responsibility” for mishandling the closure of former Brexit party leader Farage’s bank accounts, following the resignation of NatWest CEO Alison Rose over the same matter.

NatWest has faced intense scrutiny over the decision by Coutts to sever ties with Farage, who began publicly airing his concerns over the way he was being treated in late June.

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.

Rose left after she admitted she had discussed details about Farage’s accounts with a BBC journalist.

Reporting by Lawrence White and Iain Withers; Editing by Alexander Smith

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