The financial regulator has appointed two outside firms to do an independent review of Royal Bank of Scotland’s treatment of businesses in financial difficulty and consider allegations of poor practice set out in a recent report.
Consultancy Promontory Financial Group and accountancy firm Mazars will look into claims made in Lawrence Tomlinson’s report in November and referenced in a separate report by Sir Andrew Large on lending to small and medium-sized businesses at RBS .
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Mr Tomlinson, a multi-millionaire adviser to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, alleged that the bank’s turnaround unit, the Global Restructuring Group, actively profited from systematically putting the lender’s customers out of business.
The Financial Conduct Authority said the first stage of the review would consider RBS’ treatment of a sample of customers referred to the turnaround unit.
The regulator said: "This will include some cases where customers have already raised concerns with Mr Tomlinson, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills or the FCA."
The review will also consider whether "any poor practices identified are widespread and systematic".
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By GlobalDataThe FSA said: "If this is the case, the second stage of the review will identify the root cause of these issues and make recommendations to address any shortcomings identified."
Ross McEwan, the chief executive of RBS, said: "It is important to note that the most serious allegation that has been made is that RBS conducted a ‘systematic’ effort to profit on the back of our customers when they were in financial distress. We do not believe that this is the case but it has nonetheless done serious damage to RBS’s reputation. No evidence has been provided for that allegation to the bank."
Taxpayer-owned RBS has hired law firm Clifford Chance to investigate Mr Tomlinson’s claims.
The findings of the Promontory-Mazars review are expected to be published in the third quarter of this year.
Commercial lending is not regulated but If the finding reveal issues which come within its remit, the regulator said it would consider further measures.
