Ousted NatWest CEO Alison Rose to collect around £2.4m pay package while on notice NatWest has released details about the leaving arrangements for ousted CEO Alison Rose, who stepped down amid a row over the threatened closure, and discussions regarding, Nigel Farage’s bank accounts. NatWest said that Alison Rose, who was forced to resign last month, is currently servicing a 12-month notice period, during which she’ll collect a pay package worth more than £2.5m (*edit: note that she could also receive bonus payments on top of the fixed pay detailed below). That consists of £1.2m cash salary £1.2m worth of NatWest shares that will be released to her over a 5-year period £115,566 in pension payments, worth 10% of her salary Plus “contractually agreed benefits” (though the banking group does not detail what these benefits are) NatWest said that Rose’s payments will be “reviewed on a continuing basis”, and will take into account the eventual outcomes of internal and external investigations into the spat with Farage. The bank – which is 38.5% owned by the taxpayer – added that all of her pay is subject to malus and clawback rules, meaning that the bank can order her to return a portion of her previous pay if there is evidence of wrongdoing. NatWest said: Details of any decisions made in respect of Ms Rose’s share awards or any other remuneration matters will be provided as and when such decisions are made. Closing post Time for a recap. It’s been a relatively busy day for the end of August. First we had news that trade minister Kemi Badenoch was heading to a meeting of G20 ministers in Jaipur, where she was expected to progress talks towards a post-Brexit trade deal with India. That was soon overshadowed by a flurry of PMI data, first from France and Germany, both of which suffered further contraction in services and manufacturing activity. Germany, in particular, suffered its steepest drop in business activity since May 2020. Then came eurozone data, which showed private sector activity slid to its lowest level since November 2020, with the composite PMI falling to 47.0 in August from July’s 48.6. The UK did not escape the gloom, with data showing an unexpected contraction in UK business activity, that experts said had raised the risk of recession. By mid-morning, though, the NatWest/Farage scandal came back into the spotlight, as the banking group revealed pay arrangements for its ousted boss Alison Rose. The bank said Rose would benefit from a £2.4m pay package while she was on a 12-month notice period. However, the lender could stop payments, or force her to repay some of that money, depending on the outcome of an investigation related to the planned closure of Farage’s accounts at Coutts, its private bank for the ultra-wealthy, Coutts. Farage said it was a “sick joke.” That’s all from the live blog today. We’ll be back from 8am Thursday morning. -KM Luke Hildyard, director of the High Pay Centre thinktank, said Rose’s payout was “totally galling as a reward for a serious error of judgement.” But even if Rose is forced to forego it, she will still have over £11m from her time as CEO to fall back on. What the case really shows is that executives and other top earners are normal, fallible individuals who can make these kind of mistakes. Some navigate their tenure successfully, some don’t but none merit the superhuman pay awards or the outsized share of total incomes that they consume. Wall Street is open for trading and major US indices are on the rise: Dow is up 0.17% at 34,348 points S&P 500 is up 0.24% at 4,398 points Nasdaq is up 0.24% at 13,538 points And a quick round-up of European markets, where share performance is mixed: FTSE 100 is up 0.46% at 7,270 points FTSE 250 is up 18,204 points Germany’s DAX is flat at around 15,705 points France’s CAC 40 is down 0.1% at 7,240 points Italy’s FTSE MIB is flat at 28,164 points Full story: NatWest’s ousted chief Alison Rose in line for £2.4m pay package NatWest Group’s ousted chief executive Alison Rose is in line for a pay package worth more than £2.4m, despite being forced to resign over a scandal linked to the threatened closure of Nigel Farage’s bank accounts. The bank, which is 38.5% owned by the taxpayer, said it would continue to pay Rose while she served a 12-month notice period, as stipulated in her employment contract. That includes a near-£1.2m cash salary, £115,566 in pension payments, and around £1.2m of NatWest shares. It will also give Rose access to about £26,250 worth of benefits, which can include a company car and chauffeur, life assurance, and personal security, and she could still receive bonuses on top of her fixed pay package. Last year, NatWest was criticised for handing Rose a £5.2m pay package. However, NatWest said her notice period would continue to be under review and her pay would be subject to clawback rules, meaning the bank could order her to return a portion of her previous pay if there was evidence of wrongdoing. Those decisions are likely to be heavily influenced by the outcome of internal and external investigations into the scandal surrounding the former Ukip leader’s access to accounts at the NatWest-owned private bank Coutts, which are expected to run until the end of October. An update on Rose’s benefits package, which the bank confirmed are worth around £26,250. According to NatWest’s annual report, executive directors like Rose can choose from a range of benefits including a company car, chauffeur, private medial coverage, life assurance and critical illness insurance. They can also cover security arrangements when deemed necessary. Nigel Farage hits out at NatWest"s pay package for Alison Rose Nigel Farage has taken to X to call out NatWest over the £2.4m pay package: News in from the Bank of England on who is taking advantage of buy-now-pay-later: the relatively new form of consumer credit offered by firms such as Klarna and Clearplay. Threadneedle Street says data on BNPL is limited, in part due to the fact that it is exempt from regulation. But its own research - reported on the Bank Underground blog - has found BNPL is especially popular with young renters and those already facing money troubles. BNPL’s appeal is that it avoids the need for purchases to be paid for in full upfront. But many products are exempt from regulation because they don’t charge interest on repayments. Instead, BNPL firms’ revenue comes from charging retailers a fee for organising the transaction, with some lenders also charging borrowers for late payment. In total, the Bank says 3.1m households across the UK - 11% of the total - reported owing money on BNPL. Among users the mean balance was £866, implying that £2.7bn is owed in total. Many BNPL users had balances of £300 or less but the most heavily indebted 10% of users owed an average of £2000. Breaking down the figures, the Bank says BNPL is most common among the 25-34 age group and this demographic also accounts for 37% of those owing £2000 or more. Renters are much more likely to be BNPL users than other groups and more than two thirds (68%) of users say they are concerned about their level of borrowing. NatWest has said in a statement: Like other employees where an investigation outcome is pending, Alison Rose is currently receiving her fixed pay. This in line with her contractual notice period and remains under continual review, as the independent investigation continues. As previously confirmed, no decision on her remuneration will be taken until the relevant investigations are complete. Interim NatWest CEO eligible for pay package worth more than £4.86m NatWest also confirmed the pay arrangements for Alison Rose’s temporary replacement, Paul Thwaite, who is serving as CEO for an initial 12 month period. The banking group said Thwaite could be in line for a pay package worth more than £4.86m: £1.05m salary £1.05m worth of Natwest shares released over a 5-year period Up to £1.05m worth of bonuses (worth up to 100% of salary) Up to £1.58m worth of shares as part of a restricted share plan (up to 150% of salary) £105,000 in pension payments (10% of salary) £26,250 in personal benefits (this can include personal drivers etc/9 Plus variable pay awards linked to his previous role as CEO of NatWest’s commercial lending arm Ousted NatWest CEO Alison Rose to collect around £2.4m pay package while on notice NatWest has released details about the leaving arrangements for ousted CEO Alison Rose, who stepped down amid a row over the threatened closure, and discussions regarding, Nigel Farage’s bank accounts. NatWest said that Alison Rose, who was forced to resign last month, is currently servicing a 12-month notice period, during which she’ll collect a pay package worth more than £2.5m (*edit: note that she could also receive bonus payments on top of the fixed pay detailed below). That consists of £1.2m cash salary £1.2m worth of NatWest shares that will be released to her over a 5-year period £115,566 in pension payments, worth 10% of her salary Plus “contractually agreed benefits” (though the banking group does not detail what these benefits are) NatWest said that Rose’s payments will be “reviewed on a continuing basis”, and will take into account the eventual outcomes of internal and external investigations into the spat with Farage. The bank – which is 38.5% owned by the taxpayer – added that all of her pay is subject to malus and clawback rules, meaning that the bank can order her to return a portion of her previous pay if there is evidence of wrongdoing. NatWest said: Details of any decisions made in respect of Ms Rose’s share awards or any other remuneration matters will be provided as and when such decisions are made. A couple notes to add: The drop in UK composite PMI marked the first time that the index fell below the 50 no-change mark since January 2023. Meanwhile, the the services PMI was below the 50-mark for only the second time in 31 months. S&P Global Markit Intelligence’s Chris Williamson highlights how the PMI data points to one of the steepest declines in UK business activity since the 2008 financial crisis, when discounting the pandemic downturn. However, he notes that the downturn could finally meant that price inflation starts to ease by the end of 2023. That could also result in fewer, or smaller, hikes in interest rates by the Bank of England which has so far raised rates to 5.25% The PMIs are unquestionably bad, but are unlikely to lead to a contraction in Q3 GDP, ING’s developed markets economist, James Smith, says. For various reasons, none of this will likely lead to a contraction in third-quarter GDP. Mainly because a hefty increase in June’s monthly activity numbers gave the third quarter a decent starting point, so when you compare the average GDP across July-September, it’s likely to be higher than the three months prior even if the economy fails to grow over the summer. On top of that, the ever-deteriorating manufacturing PMI – now at 42.5 – doesn’t really tally with what the official data is telling us, and that’s partly due to a sharp improvement in car production in recent months. He is now expecting GDP growth of around 0.3-0.4% in the third quarter, but says the economy is likely to lose steam in the months ahead. Still, what these PMIs do tell us is that the UK is unlikely to be able to sustain those sorts of growth figures over the coming months. That manufacturing weakness is likely to show up more evidently. And remember that much of the impact of past rate hikes is still to feed through, given the heavily-fixed nature of the UK’s mortgage market.