British bank NatWest on Thursday said the chief executive of its private bank Coutts, Peter Flavel, will step down with immediate effect.
It comes after days of political and media pressure over the bank's handling of the closure of Nigel Farage's accounts.
NatWest's new interim chief executive Paul Thwaite is in place after the group's former boss Alison Rose quit the bank in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Mohammad Kamal Syed will step into the role of interim chief of Coutts and NatWest's wealth businesses, Mr Thwaite said. He added that Mr Flavel was stepping down by "mutual consent".
Mr Flavel said the handling of Mr Farage's case had "fallen below the bank’s high standards of personal service".
"As CEO of Coutts it is right that I bear ultimate responsibility for this, which is why I am stepping down," Mr Flavel said.
Australian-born Mr Flavel, who previously served as chief executive of JPMorgan Private Wealth Management in Asia Pacific region, took the top job at Coutts in 2016.
In recent weeks, Mr Farage has been highly critical about the decision by Coutts, which caters to some of the UK’s wealthiest people, including royalty, to "debank" him.
Ms Rose's departure earlier in the week came after she had admitted to a “serious error of judgment” by discussing with a BBC journalist Mr Farage’s relationship with Coutts.
Mr Farage had presented evidence that his account with Coutts had been closed partly due to his political beliefs conflicting with the bank’s values.
Ministers moved to introduce a number of reforms last week amid concerns that people were being denied crucial banking services.
Mr Farage tweeted that it was “only a matter of time” before Mr Flavel stepped down.
He said he wrote to him twice before “going public” with the issue but did not get a reply.
