Name: Coutts Review
Item: Coutts & Company
Rating: 5
Author: Noam Cohen

5 out of 5, Q4 2026 edition

price level of published fees

1matter on the record, 2023

Not publishedminimum relationship

The editor's opinion

Why Coutts has five stars

Coutts earns five stars, the highest rating we give. No final adverse finding against this licence holder in ten years of regulatory and court records. What a family should weigh: the custody terms are public but silent on re-use of assets and on sub-custodians. A matter is open with the authorities and carries no weight until it is decided. Still to be confirmed: whether external asset managers have a dedicated desk. It carries no weight until it is documented.

Noam Cohen, Editor, Bank IntelligenceReviewed 6 November 2026, Q4 2026 edition. The rating weighs the public record together with what clients and their advisers tell us in confidence; retail products, branches and apps play no part.

Where Coutts stands out

No final adverse finding against this licence holder in ten years of regulatory and court records.
Custody assets are protected by statute in the booking centre, with conditions a family should read.
Deposits are covered by a statutory protection scheme.
A full range of private banking services is published for this booking unit.
The fee schedule is published in full, so a family can price the relationship before asking.

What to weigh

One matter is still open with the authorities and not decided. It carries no weight in the rating until it is decided.
The custody terms are public but silent on re-use of assets and on sub-custodians.
No public policy on third-party payments or retrocessions.
Whether independent asset managers are served by a dedicated desk is not published.

The rating expresses the opinion of PPLI.com on the date shown. It is not a statement of fact about the bank, not a credit rating, not a forecast of failure and not investment advice.

The record

Regulatory and legal record

What regulators, prosecutors and courts have decided, recorded against the legal entity they named, with the status, the amounts as published and a link to the original document. Claims and investigations still under way are marked as open.

202327 October 2023

FCA statement on NatWest Group and Coutts following the independent review of customer account closures

After NatWest Group commissioned Travers Smith to review Coutts' closure of a customer's accounts and a wider sample of Coutts exits, the FCA said on 27 October 2023 that the report and other information highlighted potential regulatory breaches in the firms' processes, systems and controls around account closure and in the allocation of responsibilities and governance. The FCA said it would use statutory information gathering powers, interview staff and review policies. No enforcement outcome, fine or public closure of this supervisory work was found on the FCA site as of 1 November 2026.

This report, and additional information we have considered, has highlighted potential regulatory breaches

NatWest Group RNS of 15 December 2023: the Group 'has accepted - and will implement - all the recommendations contained in Phases 1 and 2 of the review', including a commercial exits framework, review of exit letters, a PEP declassification programme and mandatory training.

Financial Conduct Authority (supervisory statement, no enforcement outcome published)Public investigationOpen matter, not decidedPrimary source

Clients and standing

Client experience and financial standing

What clients meet at Coutts, read from complaint registers, ombudsman decisions and court records, independent reporting and what clients and their advisers tell PPLI.com in confidence. Announcements by the bank, awards and marketing material are left out.

UHNW client ratings

3.0 out of 5, based on 7 client ratings for this booking centre.

What clients report

Trustpilot's profile for Coutts & Company scores 1.5 out of 5 from 106 reviews. The best-known client dispute is the 2023 closure of Nigel Farage's account, which led to the resignation of the bank's chief executive in July 2023. ITV News reported in October 2023 that the ICO had found that a NatWest individual's disclosure of the customer's banking relationship to a journalist infringed his data protection rights, and closed the matter without further action. Alliance News reported on 27 March 2025 that the dispute was settled with NatWest Group on confidential terms and with an apology.

Worth raising with the bank

Ask what notice and what reasons the bank now gives before closing an account, following the FCA statement of October 2023 on the independent review of its account closures.
Ask who within NatWest Group can see a client's account information, given the ICO finding that a NatWest individual's disclosure of a customer's banking relationship to a journalist infringed data protection rights.

Financial standing

Credit ratings published by the agencies, dated by the latest agency or bank document that confirms them
Agency	Rating	Outlook	As of	Rated company
Moody's / S&P / Fitch	A3 / A- / A+	Stable	April 2026 / June 2026 / November 2025	NatWest Group plc (parent)
Moody's / S&P / Fitch	A1 / A+ / AA	Stable	April 2026 / September 2026 / May 2026	National Westminster Bank Plc (sister bank)

In the press

22 July 2025Scottish Financial Review
Coutts & Co hires Anne Richards as next chair
Scottish Financial Review reported that Dame Anne Richards would succeed Lord Remnant as chair of Coutts & Co later in 2025.
27 March 2025Alliance News via LSE.co.uk
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and NatWest settle de-banking dispute
Nigel Farage and NatWest settled their dispute over the closure of his Coutts account on confidential terms, with an apology from NatWest.
27 July 2023Professional Adviser
Coutts CEO Peter Flavel steps down after Nigel Farage banking row
Chief executive Peter Flavel stepped down with immediate effect after the Nigel Farage account row, with head of asset management Mohammad Kamal Syed as interim replacement.

What it costs

What Coutts charges, compared

Coutts publishes its fees. The figures below are its list prices, read on 6 November 2026 from the document linked at the foot of this section. To compare banks fairly we put every published fee in US dollars at the same indicative rates and apply it to the same reference amounts, then rate each fee against the average of the other banks that publish it. Five stars is the lowest fee, one star the highest. Terms a family actually negotiates are often different, and the bank can change its schedule at any time.

The reference relationship, at Coutts's list prices

USD 116,400 a year

47 basis points for custody and a discretionary mandate (custody USD 16,400, discretionary mandate USD 100,000)

With the trades, conversions and transfers of the reference year added at list price: about USD 211,336 a year, 85 basis points.

against 22 other banks on custody and mandate fees

Price level of the published fees9 fees compared with the other banks that publish them

Fee	Coutts	Other banks	Against the others
Custody and safekeepingeffective rate on USD 25 million	0.07% a year0.09% at USD 10m, 0.06% at USD 50m; Investment Platform Fee Source	0.30% a yearaverage of 38 other banks	among the lowest
Discretionary mandateeffective rate on USD 12.5 million, balanced profile	0.80% a yearmanagement fee only; the Investment Platform Fee is charged in addition Source	1.25% a yearaverage of 25 other banks	among the lowest
Advisory mandateeffective rate on USD 12.5 million	0.90% a yearfee only; platform fee in addition Source	0.93% a yearaverage of 21 other banks	around the average
Equity tradecommission on a USD 250,000 trade, major exchange	0.40% Source	0.81%average of 47 other banks	among the lowest
Bond tradecommission on a USD 500,000 trade	0.25% Source	0.96%average of 42 other banks	among the lowest
Third party fund subscriptionfee on a USD 250,000 subscription	0.40% Source	1.40%average of 42 other banks	among the lowest
Currency conversionmargin on a USD 1 million spot conversion	1.00%stated as a maximum Source	0.70%average of 30 other banks	among the most expensive
Minimum annual feeper year, or fee below the asset threshold	USD 1,560 a yearGBP 100 per month Source	USD 4,411 a yearaverage of 38 other banks	among the lowest
Outgoing international transferper transfer, standard	USD 39GBP 30 Source	USD 57average of 61 other banks	among the lowest

Not in the published schedule: account maintenance, transfer of securities to another bank, closing the account, lombard loan margin.

Sources.

Investment Services Fee tariff (Coutts & Co), 2026 edition, read on 6 November 2026. Fees quoted plus VAT where stated
Private Client Banking Tariff (Coutts & Co), from 01 June 2026, read on 6 November 2026

How the comparison works: USD 25 million booked with the bank: half under a discretionary balanced mandate, half in custody with advice; 24 equity trades of USD 250,000 and 8 bond trades of USD 500,000 a year; 6 currency conversions of USD 1 million; 24 outgoing international transfers. Tiered fees are applied to those amounts tranche by tranche, stated minimums are applied, and amounts are converted at indicative rates of 2026-11-06. Read how we compare fees.

The bank at a glance

Identity, protection and services

Legal identity

Legal nameCoutts & Company

LEI549300OLXJ4Y010LOT34

LicenceUK bank authorised to accept deposits (Financial Services Register No. 122287) Source

RegulatorPRA (authorisation and prudential) and FCA (conduct)

Legal formLocally incorporated subsidiary

OwnerNatWest Group plc Source

Ownership

Group parentNatWest Group plc (listed, LSE; NYSE (ADS)) Source

ControlWidely held; no shareholder with 10% or more Source (28 July 2025)

Disclosed holdings of 3% or moreMassachusetts Financial Services Company 5.167092% Source (4 April 2025); Norges Bank 3.06336% Source (28 July 2025)

Ownership is shown as published, with its date. It describes who owns the bank; it does not, by itself, suggest any wrongdoing by the bank or its owners.

Financial strength, as reported

Credit ratingsMoody's / S&P / Fitch A3 / A- / A+ (NatWest Group plc (parent)); Moody's / S&P / Fitch A1 / A+ / AA

CET1 ratio11.3% (30 Jun 2026) Source

Leverage exposure measureGBP 19,556 m (30 Jun 2026) Source

Services published for this booking unit

Private clients

Discretionary management

Advisory mandates

Custody only (execution and safekeeping)

Lombard lending

Mortgage lending

Multi currency accounts

Trust and fiduciary services

Family office services

Wealth planning

Consolidated reporting

External asset manager desk

Offered at this booking centreOffered by the group, not confirmed hereNot located, which does not mean unavailable
Checked on the bank's own pages, 2 November 2026.

Access and costs

Minimum relationshipNot published

Product minimumProduct minimum: GBP 1 million (hold over £1 million in investments with Coutts) Source

US personsNot published

Fee schedulePublished, 2026 edition Source Compared below

Third party paymentsNot published

Transfer out termsNot published

Protection of client assets

Deposit protectionUK incorporated banks are FSCS members: GBP 120,000 per eligible person per bank since 1 December 2025, up to GBP 1.4 million for temporary high balances.

Custody lawCustody assets and client money are protected under the FCA Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS 6 and CASS 7, statutory trust for client money), made under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Consent rules for use of custody assets sit in CASS, which is regulatory rule text rather than primary statute.

Custody termsPublished Source

Before opening an account

Moving the portfolio. Ask the bank to review a sample list of your holdings and identify which it could transfer in specie. Request a written schedule of exit charges, including charges levied by any sub-custodian.
A portfolio-backed credit line. If you intend to borrow against the portfolio, ask for the eligibility and haircut schedule, the margin-call timetable and the charges for holding or transferring pledged securities.
Currency conversion. The fee comparison shows a published maximum of 1.00% for the reference FX transaction. Ask for the spread on your usual currency pairs and trade sizes, with the benchmark rate named in the quote. See published fees.

Coutts & Company

Why Coutts has five stars

Where Coutts stands out

What to weigh

Regulatory and legal record

FCA statement on NatWest Group and Coutts following the independent review of customer account closures

Client experience and financial standing

UHNW client ratings

What clients report

Worth raising with the bank

Financial standing

In the press

Coutts & Co hires Anne Richards as next chair

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and NatWest settle de-banking dispute

Coutts CEO Peter Flavel steps down after Nigel Farage banking row

What Coutts charges, compared

Identity, protection and services

Legal identity

Ownership

Financial strength, as reported

Services published for this booking unit

Access and costs

Protection of client assets

Before opening an account

Rate Coutts

Our commitment to confidentiality

Sources

Regulatory and legal record

Client experience and press

Fees

Identity, ownership, finances and services

The bank

For Coutts

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