FCA fines RBS £14.5m over mortgage advice
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been slapped with a £14.5m fine by the City watchdog after it gave UK mortgage customers poor advice.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) conducted two reviews of sales made by RBS and its Natwest subsidiary in 2012 and found that in more than half of cases, "the suitability of the advice was not clear".
"Only two of the 164 sales reviewed were considered to meet the standard required overall in a sales process," the FCA said.
The watchdog also found that the 80% taxpayer-owned bank had failed to suitably advise customers on appropriate mortgage terms, nor had it given proper debt consolidation advice.
The fine could have been as much as £20.7m, but the bank earned itself a 30% discount by settling the payment early.
The bank's chief executive, Ross McEwan, said: "Taking out a mortgage is one of the biggest moments in our lives, and our customers have every right to expect the very best service when making this decision.
"It is clear that in the past the bank just didn't get this right, this was unacceptable and should never have happened."
The FTSE 100-listed bank has now been fined £265m for the year so far and is currently waiting to hear how much it will be fined for a computer system breakdown that occurred into 2012.
NR