Businesses were destroyed and lives ruined by misconduct of major banks - Greg Wright

In the years following the financial crash, livelihoods were destroyed due to the misconduct of the major banks.

Honest people, who formed the bedrock of Britain’s economy, were plunged into despair by forces beyond their control. But it is still not too late for them to obtain justice.

A decade ago, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking (APPG) was established to highlight the widespread mis-selling of interest rate hedging products (IRHPs) to businesses. It’s an indictment of the system that the APPG’s work is still not done.

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Following the publication of John Swift’s independent review of the FCA’s supervisory intervention in the widespread mis-selling of interest rate hedging products to businesses, MPs are now calling on the regulator to right the wrongs done to victims excluded from the original compensation scheme.

A decade ago, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking (APPG) was established to highlight the widespread mis-selling of interest rate hedging products (IRHPs) to businesses.A decade ago, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking (APPG) was established to highlight the widespread mis-selling of interest rate hedging products (IRHPs) to businesses.
A decade ago, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking (APPG) was established to highlight the widespread mis-selling of interest rate hedging products (IRHPs) to businesses.

These victims are still suffering a decade later. In an open letter, the co-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking, Kevin Hollinrake MP has asked the Financial Conduct Authority Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi to reconsider its decision not to investigate the treatment of customers who the MPs believe were unfairly excluded from the redress scheme.

The FCA has said it would not be appropriate or proportionate to take further action, and as a result, the APPG will be filing for a judicial review application.

The letter to the FCA states: “Over 10,000 sales of IRHPs to approximately 5,000 “retail clients” or ”private customers” were excluded from the scheme by the FSA (Financial Services Authority), on the basis of a “sophistication” test, which sought to categorise and exclude victims of IRHP mis-selling based on inflexible criteria without reference to individual circumstance or factual events, and unsupported by any impact assessment.”

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“The review has concluded – in clear terms – that the FSA was wrong to exclude these sales from the scheme, which amounted to approximately 35% of the total sales of IRHPs that were subject to greater regulatory protection from the FSA.”

In his letter, Mr Hollinrake gives vent to the victims’ frustrations. He has been enraged by the fact that the full independent review took 30 months to complete “at significant cost” and then the central recommendation - that it was wrong to exclude 33% of all potential claims - has been rejected.

Mr Hollinrake said: “The regulator cannot produce any evidence to support the decision or even remember what the reasons were for excluding so many victims, meanwhile, they cleared the way for banks to knock up to £10 billion off their compensation bill.

“The FCA knows that the eligibility criteria did not achieve its objective and now the regulator needs to step up and deliver fair and effective redress for those left out in the cold.”

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Tonia Antoniazzi, the vice-chair of the APPG, said: “Mis-selling scandal victims were left without remedy, livelihoods were lost, businesses built up over many years were destroyed and lives were ruined.

“This is not simply a question of the role of the regulator, which is a crucial question in itself, we still have the opportunity to help those still suffering 10 years on at no fault of their own to have the life they deserve.”

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An FCA spokesperson said: “The FCA is a very different organisation from that that existed when these products were sold and when the redress scheme was established.”

The spokesman said the FCA had accepted many of the recommendations from the Swift review.

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The spokesman added: “We said in our response to the report in December that we don’t believe, however, that the FSA was wrong to limit the scope of the redress scheme and we consider it would not be appropriate or proportionate to take further action.”

But is it fair or proportionate for so many victims to be denied justice? The FCA must provide evidence to support its response to the review. The MPs are right to doggedly stick to their guns.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson

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