Revealed: The Tory peer who used to be a water company executive and the Australian-born Oxford alumni who helmed Coutts as it closed Nigel Farage’s account

• Tory peer Lord Remnant took over as chairman of Coutts bank back in January 
• He and chief executive Australian Peter Flavel, are key figures at the bank 

As the fallout continues from the scandal over the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account at Coutts, renewed focus has been given to those at the top of the bank.

Dame Alison Rose, the chief executive of NatWest Group, which owns Coutts, was forced to step down yesterday after it was revealed she was the source for an inaccurate BBC story about the former UKIP leader’s finances.

The GB News host, who has received an apology from the BBC for its reporting, has called on the CEO of Coutts, Peter Flavel, to do the same and has heaped pressure on the bank’s chairman Lord Remnant.

On his show on Tuesday Mr Farage said: ‘The government ought to say we have no confidence in this management. Frankly, I think they should all go.’

So, who are the two people at the top of the embattled bank?

Tory peer Lord Remnant took over as Coutts chairman in January after a string of roles in finance and business

LORD REMNANT 

Tory peer Lord Remnant took over as Coutts chairman in January after a string of roles in finance and business.

READ MORE HERE:  Treasury warns banks closing customer’s accounts over their political beliefs ‘will not be tolerated’

The ‘lifelong Conservative’ was voted into the House of Lords last July, having promised in his candidate statement to ‘commit enthusiastically to the Lords’ after ‘reducing business interests’.

A few months later he was appointed Chairman of Coutts, with NatWest chairman Sir Howard Davies announcing him as an ‘excellent addition’ who would ‘add immense value to guide and inform Coutts business priorities going forward.’

In a speech on the Trophy Hunting bill, Lord Remnant described his ‘natural habitat’ as the ‘financial services jungle’.

He had recently stepped down from water company Severn Trent plc after nine years on the board and retired from the Takeover Panel after 10 years as deputy chair.

Previously, he was Chairman of the City of London Investment Trust plc and of M&G Group Limited.

In his maiden speech in the Lords he said: ‘I followed my father into the City, as a chartered accountant and then an investment banker.

‘Since then, I have sat on the boards of major listed financial services companies and so have long been subject to the rules of our financial regulators.’

Born in 1954, with two brothers and a sister, he attended Saint Ronan’s School in Hawkshurst, Kent – the same school as his father, the previous Lord Remnant.

Australian-born Coutts chief executive Peter Flavel, 63, took the helm in 2016

PETER FLAVEL 

Australian-born banker, Coutts chief executive Peter Flavel, took the helm in 2016 after working for Standard Chartered’s Private Bank and JP Morgan.

On his show on Tuesday Nigel Farage said: ‘The government ought to say we have no confidence in this management. Frankly, I think they should all go’

Born to pub-owing parents, he studied law, economics and commerce at university near his childhood home in Adelaide and Melbourne – he has also attended the Advanced Management Programme at both Harvard Business School and the University of Oxford – before taking a job at National Australia Bank.

In 2006, he moved to Singapore to run Standard Chartered’s Private Bank, then switched to JP Morgan’s wealth management arm.

Last year, there were increasing signs that Mr Flavel, who turned 63 on Tuesday, was becoming increasingly enamoured with issues such as inclusivity and climate change.

The executive shared posts about ‘benefitting the environment and people of all identities and backgrounds.’

‘Each and every one of us has the power to create change,’ he says on the bank’s website.

In an interview in 2019, he revealed he was an adherent to working from home before it became the norm, saying he liked to do so once a month at his West London flat, which the father-of-three shared with wife Ally.

‘Sitting there on our little balcony overlooking the garden fills you with so many new ideas,’ he said.

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