FNZ, the global wealth management platform, has appointed former NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose as chair of its UK business and a member of the group board.
Dame Alison has secured a number of board positions since leaving the bank in the summer of 2023 over the Nigel Farage “de-banking” scandal.
At FNZ she will oversee a company embroiled in a legal dispute with a group of current and former employees suing it for $4.6 billion over allegations that previous fundraisings by the fintech firm had diluted their shareholdings. FNZ has rejected the claims.
It has only recently had a block on taking on new clients lifted after it improved its governance, risk and other internal systems. It has just raised a further $650 million from investors.
Dame Alison, 56, was the first woman to head a UK clearing bank, rising through the ranks at NatWest to take the helm in 2019 or what was formerly Royal Bank of Scotland group. It is understood that she instigated the change of company name to the London-based bank.
But she was forced to leave after admitting she had disclosed details to a BBC journalist about the Reform UK leader’s account with Coutts, the NatWest private bank.
Since then she has built a portfolio of roles, also acting as a senior partner at private equity firm Charterhouse, a private equity firm, and chair of law firm Mishcon de Reya.
She chaired the Government-commissioned Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, which delivered lasting reforms to improve access to finance and support for female entrepreneurs across the UK. In the 2023 New Year’s Honours List, she received a Damehood for services to financial services.
Blythe Masters, FNZ group chief executive, said: “Alison is an outstanding leader, and I am delighted to welcome her to FNZ. She brings deep knowledge of financial services and the UK regulatory landscape, as well as exceptional leadership qualities. Her insight and experience will be highly valuable as we strengthen our business globally.”
Dame Alison said it was “an important time” for FNZ.
“FNZ’s mission to open up wealth and enable more people to invest in their future on their own terms is one I strongly believe in, and I’m excited to help advance it.”
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