Yahoo Finance Pressure mounts on FCA boss Andrew Bailey over handling of RBS scandal report
Pressure is growing on Andrew Bailey, the boss of Britain’s financial regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), to account for his handling of a stinging report into RBS’s mistreatment of struggling small businesses.
MPs from across the political divide told The Sunday Telegraph that Mr Bailey had “serious questions” to answer over the regulator’s failure to publish its investigation into RBS’s turnaround unit Global Restructuring Group (GRG).
The widely leaked report blames GRG managers for chasing profits at the expense of distressed firms, leading to “widespread” mistreatment and one in six being pushed further into the red.
Kevin Hollinrake, Conservative MP and co-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Banking, questioned why there was “a world of difference” between the report and an earlier summary published by the FCA.
“Why was there such a fundamental difference between the conclusions? What confidence will people have in the FCA’s ability to hold managers to account?”
Frank Field, chairman of the work and pensions committee, said the FCA’s handling of the case had been “desperate”.
Sir Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat leader, said Mr Bailey had made a “pig’s ear” of the case and “his position must be under threat”.
The FCA was given a deadline of Friday to publish its inquiry but refused to do so. MPs will likely use parliamentary powers to publish it on Tuesday.
The FCA reiterated it would be “breaking the law” to publish it without consent from bosses implicated. It declined to comment on Mr Bailey’s position and said its investigation was ongoing.
Separately Lloyds and accountancy giant PwC are due to appear in court in April over an explosive £55m claim from a car dealership in Leeds.
Premier Motor Auctions alleges the two firms dishonestly colluded to push the company into insolvency. Lloyds and PwC deny the claim and argue the company chief executive’s extravagant lifestyle contributed to his own assets being liquidated and that they acted with transparency and integrity.
