The Royal Bank of Scotland will today announce its plans to put aside £400m to compensate the small businesses that were affected by wrongdoing in its restructuring business Global Restructuring Group (GRG).
Small businesses were moved under the control of GRG after the financial crisis but allegedly suffered from conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency on fees, according to the FT.
The bank has also been accused of secretly trying to profit from the distress of its customers but is expected to reject these allegations.
RBS has admitted GRG did get some things wrong and is set to offer a payout to small business owners that were affected by this. It will offer to repay a certain type of fee paid by some companies moved into the restructuring unit.
Last month, the bank said in a statement: “In the aftermath of the financial crisis, we did not always meet our own high standards and we let some of our SME customers down.”
Following further reports citing leaked documents saying RBS had tried to find ways to “provoke a default” on companies, the bank added it “seen nothing to support the allegations that the bank artificially distressed otherwise viable SME businesses or deliberately caused them to fail”.
FCA reveals identities of regulatory sandbox firms
Today’s announcement comes as the FCA prepares to publish an independent report scrutinising a number of allegations against GRG.
The FCA-instructed inquiry, known as a 166 report, is led by Promontory Financial Group, the consultants, and Mazars, an audit firm. Its findings will go to the FCA to identify any regulatory breaches.
Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the FCA, is due to appear before the Treasury committee today to say steps taken by RBS are sufficient to avoid enforcement action.
Last month, the RBS GRG Action Group, formed by campaigners, called on RBS to pay out at least £2bn to 50 affected businesses.
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