NatWest Faces New Debanking Suit as US Shipping Tycoon Sues Coutts Over Data Errors

NatWest's private bank Coutts is facing a data-protection claim from US shipping executive Philip Adkins, who alleges the lender closed his account based on inaccurate records. Adkins, former CEO of Red Box Energy Services, claims Coutts overstated his net worth at £62 million, falsely listed a Hong Kong apartment, and wrongly stated he lost half his wealth in a Goldman Sachs credit line. Adkins, a four-decade Coutts client, alleges the "false" records triggered a US investigation into his finances and led to his daughter's detention. He seeks compensation, legal costs, deletion of the records, and a declaration that Coutts breached UK data protection law. Coutts is defending the claim, calling it "speculative." It denies sharing data with US prosecutors and says Adkins supplied the information himself and requested the account closure, adding it must comply with anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations. The case echoes the 2023 Nigel Farage debanking scandal, which forced CEO Alison Rose's resignation.