Entrepreneur slams watchdog’s refusal to publish leaked RBS report

Yorkshire entrepreneur Lawrence Tomlinson has slammed the financial watchdog’s refusal to publish in full a leaked report into the way Royal Bank of Scotland treated small business customers.

Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, told MPs on the Treasury select committee that publication of information in the report could be a criminal offence under the Financial Services and Marketing Act.

Now, Lawrence Tomlinson, chairman of Leeds-based LNT group, who in 2013 authored the Tomlinson Report which first exposed the unfair treatment of businesses in the Royal Bank of Scotland’s turnaround division Global Restructuring Group (GRG), has slammed the decision.

He said: “How can the Financial Conduct Authority justify that publishing the full report into the mistreatment of thousands of UK businesses by RBS’ Global Restructuring Group is not in the public interest?

“Any suggestion that the report may not be published has only arisen since it became clear that the conclusions of the investigation were heavily critical of RBS. Until then, the FCA’s statements had suggested that it would be published. I wonder whether we would be awaiting publication if the report cleared RBS’ name?”

Tomlinson says the FCA should be bringing the individuals involved to justice.

A leaked copy of the FCA report into the conduct of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Global Restructuring Group was published by the BBC last month.

The BBC reported that the full FCA report finds that “inappropriate action” was experienced by 92% of viable businesses it handled.