Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on 17 March 2015, Official Report, column 254WH, what the expected anticipated publication date is for the report commissioned by the Financial Conduct Authority into the treatment by RBS of business customers in financial difficulty.

Section 166 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 gives the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) the power to commission reports by “skilled persons” in order to obtain an independent view of any aspect of a firm’s activities. It has appointed Mazars and Promontory Financial Group to carry out a skilled person’s review of the treatment by RBS of business customers in financial difficulty. This review is ongoing. The FCA expects that the skilled person will be reporting review outcomes by the end of 2015 and intends to publish the outcomes of the review after the skilled person has reported.