Coutts Retracts Inaccurate Claims in Debanking Dispute with Shipping Executive Philip Adkins

Coutts has admitted its information was inaccurate and backtracked on key claims in a debanking dispute with shipping executive Philip Adkins, who alleges the NatWest-owned lender froze his accounts in 2024 and held false data on his wealth. The bank had claimed Adkins disclosed the details himself by phone in 2021; its lawyers now accept that is inaccurate. Coutts lawyers also conceded Adkins could pursue damages under data protection rules and that the false information must be erased. Adkins, former boss of Red Box Energy Services, claims the erroneous data—including a stated £62m net worth, a Hong Kong apartment he never owned and a nonexistent Goldman Sachs credit line—triggered a US Department of Justice investigation into his finances. Coutts denied sharing data with third parties, said Adkins requested the account closures and cited sanctions obligations; UK and US authorities sanctioned entities connected to Red Box in 2024. The case echoes Coutts's 2023 closure of Nigel Farage's accounts, which led to the exit of NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose.