MPs Call For A Public Enquiry into banks mistreatment of the SME?

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• The call is made in a letter from the APPG to FCA boss Andrew Bailey

• The FCA recently said it could not take any action over the plundering of small businesses by RBS’s global restructuring group.

An influential group of MPs is demanding a full public inquiry into the banks’ mistreatment of small business customers.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking wants an investigation into ‘the complex, and often incestuous, relationships between financial institutions, their numerous advisers and related professions, and the complex regulatory framework that is supposed to uphold the highest standards’.

The call is made in a letter from the APPG to Andrew Bailey, chief executive of City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority.

The FCA recently said it could not take any action over the plundering of small businesses by RBS’s global restructuring group. It said shortcomings at RBS fell outside its regulatory remit – and that it found no evidence of dishonesty or a lack of integrity among senior management.

APPG chairman Kevin Hollinrake said this stance had left the APPG ‘disappointed and extremely concerned’.