By Iain Withers
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's data watchdog said on Wednesday that former NatWest CEO Alison Rose infringed Nigel Farage's data rights when she discussed the former Brexit party leader's relationship with the bank with a BBC journalist.
NatWest has been left reeling by fallout from a decision by its private bank Coutts to cut Farage as a customer partly because an internal committee had decided his views did not align with the lender's.
"We fully co-operate with the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) in its assessment of any customer complaint but it would not be appropriate for us to comment on this individual case," a NatWest spokesperson said.
Rose was forced to step down in July after admitting to a "serious error of judgment" in briefing a reporter about the matter.
The ICO said in its response to Farage's complaint about the incident, seen by Reuters, that in its view Rose shared "misleading information" and that Farage's rights were infringed as a result.
The ICO decision was first reported by the Financial Times.
Farage welcomed the response and said NatWest should cut Rose's notice pay and bonuses.
"It would be an outrage if she walked away with a huge sum of money," Farage said on television channel GB News.
Rose was not immediately available for comment.
"We upheld two parts of the complaint - namely, we found that an individual employed by Natwest (LON:NWG) shared information when they should not have done, and that by doing so they infringed the complainant's data protection rights," an ICO spokesperson said.
"We have been clear with the bank that these actions were unacceptable and should not happen again. However, in view of the fact the individual in question resigned her post and the bank has commissioned its own investigation, we do not intend to take any further regulatory action at this time."
This is a sensitive time for NatWest, which is due to announce quarterly results on Friday. The bank's board is also considering initial findings of law firm Travers Smith's review into the Farage incident, and is weighing whether to dock Rose's pay package.