RBS to Refund SMEs £400m

The Royal Bank of Scotland are projecting that they will have to refund SMEs £400m that were referred to, and claimed to be pushed into administration by, its Global Restructuring Group (GRG).

In response the bank will introduce a new complaints review process overseen by Sir William Blackburne, a retired high court judge with the agreement of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Any customers affected between 2008 and 2013 will now be able to make a formal complaint and RBS said it will provide automatic refunds for complex fees to some of the customers.

Ross McEwan, chief executive of RBS, said: “Although the FCA review into the historical operation of GRG continues, we believe that now is the right time to deal with the areas where we accept some customers were let down in the past.”