Economic Audit - NatWest Group plc

Domain: Economic (Economic) Target: NatWest Group plc (formerly Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc); brands in scope: NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Coutts, Ulster Bank, NatWest Markets, Lombard, RBS International. Compiled: 2026-06-20 Method: Live web search only

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

NatWest Group’s publicly disclosed supply-chain policy centres on a Sustainable Procurement Code applied to all suppliers, with sustainability criteria embedded in tender evaluations.¹ No public evidence identified of NatWest directly procuring goods or services from Israeli-domiciled companies as a deliberate commercial choice for its own operations.

An indirect supply-chain relationship with Israeli technology exists via NatWest’s participation in the UK–Israel Tech Hub, a programme hosted at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv. Through that hub, nine Israeli start-ups - including cybersecurity, AI, and fintech firms (EasySend, Valid Network, ForceNock, Deceptive Bytes, Algosave, Cred, Privacy Rating, PayMe, Iagree) - participated in NatWest’s Fintech Accelerator programme.² The Tech Hub reported that 6.4 million RBS customers were protected by Israeli cybersecurity technology following this engagement.³ The accelerator relationship is a commercial-pilot / proof-of-concept model rather than a confirmed procurement contract; no evidence of subsequent full procurement agreements with any of these firms was identified.

No public evidence identified of NatWest holding supply contracts with Israeli settlement enterprises or companies flagged on the UN OHCHR settlement database.

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

NatWest Group is a financial-services entity; it does not manufacture or distribute physical goods and therefore has no product-origin or labeling exposure in the conventional sense.

No public evidence identified of any regulatory or compliance action against NatWest Group related to the labeling or sale of Israeli settlement goods.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

This is the primary evidence-bearing section for Economic.

1. Ithaca Energy / Delek Group bond underwriting (July 2021). NatWest acted as a joint bookrunner and underwriter on a £500 million bond issuance by Ithaca Energy (North Sea) in July 2021.⁴ Ithaca is approximately 89% owned by the Delek Group, a Tel Aviv-headquartered conglomerate.⁵ The UN OHCHR listed Delek Group on its database of companies with activities in illegal Israeli settlements (first published 2020, updated 2023), citing settlement petrol stations and a contract supplying fuel to the Israeli Ministry of Defence and the IDF.⁶ Ithaca itself is a UK-registered, London-listed entity with no direct settlement operations; the human-rights concern derives from the ultimate parent. NatWest stated publicly that its role “met with our policies for the sector” and declined individual-client commentary.⁷ This is an active financing decision - NatWest earned underwriting fees - not passive index exposure.

2. DBIO Report IV (November 2024). The “Don’t Buy Into Occupation” coalition’s fourth report (data period January 2021 – September 2024) names NatWest (as “part of Royal Bank of Scotland”) among 822 European financial institutions identified as having financial relationships with 58 companies actively involved in illegal Israeli settlements.⁸ Ethical Consumer, citing DBIO IV, states that NatWest ranked as the 20th largest European creditor of companies linked to settlements within the study period.⁹ The underlying DBIO PDF was not machine-readable via live fetch; the ranking figure is taken from Ethical Consumer’s characterisation of the report and should be verified against the primary PDF.

3. Centre Delàs “Armed Banking” ranking (October 2024). Ethical Consumer, citing the Centre Delàs report “Armed banking and its joint responsibility in the Gaza genocide” (October 2024), states NatWest ranked 75th among the top 100 international banks financing arms companies whose exports are linked to Gaza.¹⁰ The Delàs report PDF returned an access-denied error during direct fetch; the ranking is taken from Ethical Consumer’s characterisation and should be verified against the primary document.

4. Financing of arms companies with Israeli military contracts. Ethical Consumer’s review (data through September 2024) states NatWest “recently financed Leonardo and Rolls-Royce,” both defence contractors that have sold weapons or weapon systems to Israel.¹¹ Leonardo S.p.A. manufactures the Oto Melara 76mm Super Rapid naval gun deployed on Israeli Navy Sa’ar 6-class corvettes.¹² Rolls-Royce is identified among the larger global arms producers that sold to Israel from 2019 to 2023.¹³ Specific credit-facility amounts attributable to NatWest were not independently verified via primary source in this audit; the Ethical Consumer attribution should be cross-referenced against primary loan databases.

5. NatWest’s ENI exposure. Bankbetter.uk, an activist-linked aggregator, alleges NatWest provided £193.9 million in financing to ENI S.p.A. and notes ENI’s award of offshore Israeli gas-exploration licences.¹⁴ The licences (offshore Israeli exploration blocks awarded in October 2023 to a consortium including ENI) are a matter of public record.¹⁵ The loan figure cited has not been independently verified against a primary source and should be treated as an allegation pending verification. ENI is an Italian energy major; the Israeli gas licence is a commercial exploration contract, not a settlement-industry activity.

6. Israeli sovereign debt underwriting. No public evidence identified that NatWest or NatWest Markets acted as an underwriter of Israeli sovereign bonds. The seven banks identified as primary underwriters of Israeli sovereign debt in the post-October 2023 period (Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Citi, Barclays, JPMorgan) do not include NatWest.¹⁶

7. Coutts / passive index exposure. Coutts (NatWest Group’s private-banking arm) employs ESG-based “strategic exclusions” for its custom-built funds and engages third-party managers over ESG policies.¹⁷ No Israel-specific exclusions or inclusions are publicly disclosed. Coutts’ in-house portfolios may hold Israeli or Israeli-linked securities via broad equity indices (passive exposure); no evidence of active, directed investment in Israeli corporates or sovereign bonds by Coutts was identified.

8. Who Profits / War on Want. The Who Profits database does not specifically list NatWest or RBS as a profiling subject. War on Want’s “Deadly Investments” report (2017) names RBS among UK banks providing loans and financing to Israeli arms firms;¹⁸ that PDF was not machine-readable via live fetch, so the specific companies and amounts attributed to RBS were not verifiable within this audit run.

Operational Presence & Market Activity

NatWest Group does not operate a branch, subsidiary, or representative office in Israel. Israel does not appear in the bank’s published list of worldwide locations.¹⁹ Following a strategic reduction of its global footprint since 2015, NatWest’s international operations are now principally in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Luxembourg, the United States, and selective Asia-Pacific presences.²⁰

RBS International (Jersey-headquartered, a NatWest Group subsidiary) serves the Crown Dependencies and Gibraltar; no Israeli presence.²¹ No evidence identified of NatWest Markets maintaining a trading or distribution desk specifically focused on Israeli securities, nor of an Israel-specific trade-finance or export-credit partnership.²²

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

NatWest Group plc (LSE: NWG) is the UK-listed holding company, parent of National Westminster Bank plc, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, NatWest Markets Plc, Coutts & Co, and Lombard North Central plc.²³

UK government shareholding (historical context): The UK Government held a majority stake in NatWest following the 2008–09 recapitalisation (peak ~84.4%). As of 30 May 2025, the Government completed its full exit, disposing of the residual holding.²⁴ This historic stake is attributed to the UK Government as shareholder; NatWest’s own corporate conduct is assessed separately.

No evidence identified of NatWest Group holding equity stakes in Israeli companies, having significant Israeli institutional shareholders, or being incorporated in Israel. Its participation in the UK–Israel Tech Hub is an institutional commercial-diplomacy relationship, not a structural corporate tie.²⁵

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

NatWest Group has no declared revenues, profits, or tax payments in Israel. Its geographic income disclosures segment results under UK Retail, UK Commercial, Private Banking, RBS International, and NatWest Markets; no Israel segment or material Israel-sourced income is identified.²⁶

The 2021 Ithaca Energy bond underwriting generated fees for NatWest (standard underwriting economics); specific fee amounts were not disclosed in public filings accessed, and would have been booked to NatWest’s UK P&L, not repatriated to Israel. The nine Israeli start-ups in the NatWest Fintech Accelerator were not revenue-generating clients; the economic benefit of the accelerator flowed from NatWest to the Israeli firms in mentorship and market access.²⁵

No evidence identified of NatWest Group making direct economic contributions to Israeli state institutions, settlement municipalities, or settlement-linked development funds.

End Notes