13 February 2025 , 22:45
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Sky News has learned that the leader of Reform UK has engaged lawyer Chris Daw KC to advise on initiating a criminal prosecution against NatWest Group concerning the 2023 debanking scandal.
The Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is exploring launching private criminal proceedings against NatWest Group over the debanking scandal which resulted in the lender’s former chief losing her job.
Sky News has learnt that Mr Farage has instructed Chris Daw KC of Lincoln House Chambers to examine whether there are grounds for bringing a criminal case against the high street banking giant.
The move appears to be deliberately timed to coincide with the publication of NatWest’s annual results on Friday morning, which will come just weeks before the government is expected to sell its last-remaining shares in the company, nearly 17 years after its £45.5bn taxpayer bailout.
Mr Farage confirmed to Sky News on Thursday evening that Grosvenor Law, which is acting for him in separate civil proceedings against the bank, had instructed Mr Daw KC to explore a private criminal prosecution, adding: "This is unfinished business."
Dan Morrison, a partner at Grosvenor Law, said in a separate statement: "Mr Farage is concerned about possible criminal issues arising out of the bank’s conduct.
"We do not wish to provide further details.
"We have therefore decided to instruct leading criminal counsel."
The debanking furore which claimed the scalp of Dame Alison Rose, NatWest’s former chief executive, in the summer of 2023 centred on whether the bank’s Coutts subsidiary decided to close Mr Farage’s accounts for commercial or political reasons.
NatWest initially claimed the motivation was commercial before Mr Farage obtained internal evidence from the bank suggesting that his politics had been a pivotal factor in the decision.
It sparked a firestorm under the then Conservative government, with Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt, the then prime minister and chancellor respectively, indicating to NatWest’s board that they had lost faith in Dame Alison’s ability to lead the bank.
Since then, the City watchdog has instructed banks and other financial firms to do more to ensure that parliamentarians, senior public servants and their families - known as politically exposed persons, or PEPs - are not treated unfairly.
Mr Farage’s decision to hire Mr Daw KC threatens a fresh escalation against one of Britain’s biggest banks at a time when some argue that he has become the country’s most influential politician.
He led Reform to a handful of seats at last year’s general election, while his party finished in second place in scores of other constituencies.
The Reform leader’s close ties to Donald Trump, inaugurated last month for the second time as US President, have fuelled the sense that he may play an even more crucial role in shaping the identity of Britain’s next government when the country goes to the polls in 2029.
A recent opinion poll for Sky News by YouGov put Reform ahead of both Labour and the Tories for the first time.
Since the summer of 2023, tentative discussions between Mr Farage’s legal representatives and NatWest about a possible settlement have failed to result in any financial agreement.
Mr Farage was expected to seek millions of pounds from the company, alleging that the debanking row had damaged his reputation.
Despite the threat of a fresh legal barrage from Mr Farage, NatWest - now run by Paul Thwaite - is in its most robust financial health for decades.
The government’s stake in the bank is now below 8%, and a full exit is expected during the spring.
A NatWest spokesperson said it did not comment on individual customers.