The Financial Conduct Authority has refused to say whether it would have taken action against Royal Bank of Scotland bosses over the “widespread and systematic” mistreatment of thousands of small businesses had tougher rules been in place when the scandal took place.
The FCA has previously said that it could not act against the bank or senior managers over harm done to small and medium-sized companies by RBS’s Global Restructuring Group (GRG) because business lending is not regulated. In a report published this morning the City regulator appeared to dodge the remaining question over whether it would have pursued RBS bosses if a regime that holds management accountable had been in place at the time.
The malpractice at GRG took place before the introduction in