Press
Press/Media
Uncovering RBS’s downgrade to GRG compensation scheme
The Business Desk
22 March 2017
Daniel Fallows, director at Seneca Banking, reveals an untold change to RBS’s review scheme for businesses affected by the bank’s Global Restructuring Group division.
A good day to bury bad news – RBS launches 'compensation scheme' for GRG customers
Scottish Legal News
21 November 2016
In a perfect illustration of the maxim “pick a good day to bury bad news”, on the day of the US Presidential Election, RBS issued a press release announcing a new complaints process, to be overseen by an independent third party in the form of a of a retired High Court judge, Sir William Blackburne, and an automatic refund of certain fees paid by SME customers in the bank’s Global Restructuring Group (“GRG”) between 2008 and 2013....
RBS 'misled' judge overseeing £400m compensation scheme
The Week
14 November 2016
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and the City regulator are facing fresh criticism over a £400m compensation scheme for small business customers mistreated by its restructuring division.
Vindicated but still victimised, businesses attack ‘flawed’ report
The Times
14 November 2016
Not everyone spent last Tuesday glued to the presidential election in the United States. For thousands of companies who were mistreated by Royal Bank of Scotland’s restructuring division, the day will be remembered as one that brought vindication.
The Times
14 November 2016
The former high court judge who will oversee RBS’s compensation scheme for thousands of companies mistreated by its restructuring unit was misled by the bank in a court case over a business dispute.
RBS set for lawsuit following FCA investigation
ITV News
8 November 2016
Ever since Ross McEwan took over as chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in 2013, he's had to contend with persistent allegations that from 2008 to 2013 the bank systematically defrauded thousands of its small business customers.
RBS facing £400m bill to compensate small business customers
The Guardian
8 November 2016
Royal Bank of Scotland has apologised to small business customers as it revealed a £400m bill to compensate them for poor treatment in the wake of the banking crisis.
Financial Conduct Authority
8 November 2016
The statement addresses the announcement made by RBS today regarding customers transferred to its Global Restructuring Group (GRG), gives a summary of the findings of the report by Promontory Financial Group (Promontory) and sets out the next steps which the FCA will take.
RBS small business allegation not backed by report
Financial Times
30 October 2016
A long-awaited report into a unit of Royal Bank of Scotland has found no firm evidence that it deliberately pushed small businesses into bankruptcy for its own profit.
RBS 'Dash for Cash' scandal: 500 firms suing bank turn anger on regulator
Herald Scotland
16 October 2016
A GROUP of almost 500 businesses suing the Royal Bank of Scotland for allegedly destroying their firms and seizing their assets is threatening legal action against the Financial Conduct Authority if it does not immediately publish its long-awaited report into the scandal.
Hamilton rejects probe into Ulster Bank and RBS 'dash for cash' claims
Belfast Telegraph
14 October 2016
The Economy Minister has said he is 'deeply disappointed' about allegations that Ulster Bank and parent firm RBS secretly tried to profit from struggling businesses.
They took everything away apart from my entrepreneurial talent
Eastern Daily Press
14 October 2016
Andrew Gibbs blames the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for the collapse of his successful creative industries firm which helped revamp King Street in the city in the mid 2000s from a red-light district to a cultural quarter.
RBS, taxpayer-funded bank in asset-stripping scandal!
Talk2MeRadio - Jon Gaunt (Audio Link)
12 October 2016
RBS has been asset-stripping good businesses, putting them to the wall and taking advantage of their situation......
The Dash For Cash: Leaked Files Reveal RBS Systematically Crushed British Businesses For Profit
Buzzfeed News
10 October 2016
The Royal Bank of Scotland killed or crippled thousands of businesses during the recession as a result of a deliberate plan to add billions of pounds to its balance sheet, according to a leaked cache of thousands of secret documents......
FCA receives report into claims of malpractice at RBS Global Restructuring Group
Express and Star
5 October 2016
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it has received a report investigating allegations of malpractice at Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) Global Restructuring Group (GRG).....
Companies hurt by RBS pursue the regulator
The Times
12 September 2016
Hundreds of businesses are threatening the City regulator with legal action because of delays to a long-awaited report into the activities of Royal Bank of Scotland’s restructuring unit.
You’ll get a report but when? - just where is the Section 166 report?
Lexology
22 July 2016
MP for Bassetlaw, John Mann MP, yesterday put questions to Andrew Bailey, CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority at the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday 20th July 2016.....
Royal Bank of Scotland faces wider scandal over Libor rigging
Exaronews.com
23 May 2016
Royal Bank of Scotland faces wider scandal over Libor rigging.
Former head of Project Rosetta to review GRG claims
Seneca Banking Consultants
9 May 2016
As the Financial Conduct Authority’s report into RBS’s Global Restructuring Group (GRG) nears completion, RBS has appointed a familiar face to head up their response.
RBS faces £400m claim it bullied and ripped off property company
The Telegraph Business
7 May 2016
Royal Bank of Scotland has been accused of misleading a property tycoon into taking out an interest rate swap which allegedly forced his firm into financial distress, then “bullying” him when he questioned the bank’s actions.
RBS share price: FCA in final stages of report on bank's business clients
Invezz
27 April 2016
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is in the final stages of completion of its keenly-awaited review of alleged mistreatment of business customers by Royal Bank of Scotland Group (LON:RBS), Reuters has reported. The news comes ahead of RBS' first-quarter results later this week.
Couple fight off bank attempt to block big compensation claim.
Midlands News Express and Star
25 April 2016
A businessman and his wife have a fought off a bank's bid to block key elements of their multi-million pound compensation claim over the alleged mis-selling of a complicated interest rate swap.
Royal Bank of Scotland faces call to compensate GRG victims
Exaronews
19 April 2016
Bosses at the Royal Bank of Scotland face pressure to set up a compensation scheme after its restructuring unit fleeced assets from “distressed” businesses.
Angel Group - Conflict liquidators appointed to investigate conspiracy claims against bank
Lexology
16 February 2016
Conflict liquidators have been appointed by the High Court to a group of companies to investigate claims by the director that the companies’ bank had artificially distressed the companies and driven them into administration.
Exclusive: Whistleblowers betrayed by FCA
The Times
25 January 2016
The Financial Conduct Authority has been accused of betraying the confidence of whistleblowers by passing on evidence and sensitive information to the high street banks that were the subject of their complaints.
RBS share price: MPs urge government to suspend sell-off
Invezz
6 November 2015
MPs have urged the government to suspend further sales of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland Group (LON:RBS), and instead to consider breaking up the bailed-out lender. The comments come about three months after the Treasury started offloading its near 80-percent holding in the bank.
Special Report - Why RBS may pay small firms it allegedly ruined
Reuters
23 September 2015
One morning in May, the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, one of Britain's biggest banks, called together his senior executives for an urgent briefing. Ross McEwan had just attended a meeting with officials at the financial regulator and had important news.
Pressure grows on RBS as victims of restructuring scandal cry foul at "conflicted" advisors
Herald Scotland
30 August 2015
A former Aberdeen oil firm owner who accuses RBS of "stitching up” his business has criticised the bank for appointing the accountancy firm that handled his firm's administration to review alleged wrongdoing by RBS's global restructuring group (GRG).
RBS faces conflict of interest accusation
The Sunday Times
16 August 2015
Advisers that have acted for the bank in bankruptcy cases now being investigated.
Lawyers step into RBS restructuring row
The Times
10 August 2015
Royal Bank of Scotland has hired PwC alongside two law firms to lead a fresh investigation into whether its restructuring division forced viable businesses to fail.
RBS hires advisers to look at treatment of small businesses
Reuters
22 July 2015
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) has appointed external advisers to launch a fresh investigation into its treatment of small business customers, sources familiar with the matter said.
RBS to launch new probe into treatment of small businesses
The Telegraph
22 July 2015
Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed external advisers to launch a fresh investigation into its treatment of small business customers.
Belfast businessman wins access to funds in fight against US fund
The Irish Times
3 July 2015
Belfast businessman wins access to funds in fight against US fund.
Action group secures US funding to sue RBS for £600m
The Sunday Times
31 May 2015
A group of businesses that claim to have been pushed to the brink of collapse by Royal Bank of Scotlans's controversial Global Restructuring Group (GRG) has moved a step closer to seeing directors of the unit in court.
Tyrie demands Commons recall for RBS in ‘asset-stripping’ row
The Times
6 May 2015
Royal Bank of Scotland must explain to MPs whether it misled them over the activities of its global restructuring group, Andrew Tyrie said yesterday.
‘Vampire division preyed on clients’ it was meant to save
The Times
5 May 2015
RBS’s restructuring group, which is being investigated by the FCA, earnt a reputation for breaking firms to boost its capital position.
‘In my worst nightmares I never thought that the bank would do this to me’
The Times
5 May 2015
Surinder Hullait, a Birmingham entrepreneur who developed commercial properties, says that a race to shore up an ailing balance sheet chimes with his experience of GRG.
RBS ‘stripped assets’ of struggling firms
The Times
5 May 2015
Royal Bank of Scotland was under pressure to strip companies of their assets to improve its balance sheet, The Times can reveal.
RBS share price: Lender ‘stripped assets’ of troubled businesses
Invezz
5 May 2015
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (LON:RBS) was pressured to strip companies of their assets to improve its balance sheet, The Times has revealed.
Small firms unite to wage war on RBS
The Times
2 March 2015
More than 250 companies claiming to have been damaged or destroyed by Royal Bank of Scotland’s “turnaround” division have clubbed together to sue the state-owned lender.
Small businesses gear up RBS legal action
The Financial Times
2 March 2015
The RBS-GRG Business Action Group is planning an "unlawful means conspiracy action" case against the bank and four individuals who held senior
Aggrieved customers turn up the heat on RBS
The Times
28 October 2014
Quinn Emanuel, an American law firm, has written to RBS highlighting concerns that a decision to close the global restructuring group (GRG) could lead to key evidence being lost.
US law firm takes on group action case
Sunday Herald
12 October 2014
Several hundred businesses that claim to have suffered at the hands of Royal Bank of Scotland's "turnaround" division have appointed US law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to represent them in a planned case against the bank.
Peter Bill on property: Recyclers suing RBS over 'bad behaviour'
Evening Standard
11 Sep 2014
London's leading recycling company Bywaters is to sue RBS for £10 ... RBS had unfairly profited? from companies placed into the GRG fold.
RBS May Have Saved Rogue Bankers From Jail With 'Whitewash' Report
Huffington Post UK
Aug 27, 2014
The Royal Bank of Scotland may have saved some of its rogue bankers from jail by commissioning a report, widely condemned as a "whitewash", clearing its controversial GRG business recovery unit of systematically defrauding small firms. The Serious ...
Blackfriar: RBS bosses must finally get a grip
Yorkshire Post
Aug 27, 2014
Last year, Mr Tomlinson claimed that RBS had engineered businesses into default to move them into its Global Restructuring Group (GRG). The GRG unit is meant to help RBS's corporate clients who find themselves in financial distress to return to health.
Papering over the cracks
Herald Scotland
16 Aug 2014
The Royal Bank of Scotland has told staff that its Global Restructuring Group (GRG), which stands accused of destroying viable UK businesses ...
RBS Disbands Restructuring Group Amid Probe - WSJ
online.wsj.com/.../rbs-to-disband-global-restructuring-group-1407494107
8 Aug 2014
Royal Bank of Scotland Group is disbanding its controversial Global Restructuring Group and the unit's head is set to leave the lender, ...
RBS begins to dismantle controversial restructuring division ...
www.theguardian.com > Business > Royal Bank of Scotland
8 Aug 2014
Derek Sach, head of Royal Bank of Scotland's global restructuring group, will leave in 2015.
Royal Bank of Scotland winds down restructuring unit - FT.com
www.ft.com > Companies > Financials
8 Aug 2014
Royal Bank of Scotland is winding down its controversial Global Restructuring Group, which is being investigated over allegations that it ...
RBS to close controversial restructuring unit - Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk > Finance > News by Sector > Banks and Finance
8 Aug 2014
Bank's Global Restructuring Group subsumed into lender with two ...RBS computer failure 'caused by inexperienced operative in India'.
RBS Winds Down Controversial GRG Business Support Unit
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/.../rbs-ends-controversial-grg-bank-unit_n_5...
8 Aug 2014
Royal Bank of Scotland is shutting down its controversial Global Restructuring Group (GRG), after suffering a maelstrom of controversy over the ...
Treasury Committee: Tyrie comments on RBS GRG reported ...
www.politicshome.com > News Front Page > Press Releases
8 Aug 2014
Commenting on today's reported changes to RBS's GRG division, Andrew ... "The important issue here is whether RBS is now-and is seen to ...
RBS axes troubled recovery division: Controversial GRG ...
www.thisismoney.co.uk/.../RBS-axes-troubled-recovery-division-Controver...
8 Aug 2014
Royal Bank of Scotland is to shut down its controversial GRG division, which is being probed by regulators over allegations that it profited from .
RBS to pay £17m bonus to controversial GRG unit | News ...
www.moneymarketing.co.uk/news-and.../rbs-to...grg.../2012773.article
28 Jul 2014
The Sunday Times reports it has seen documents which show RBS has approved bonuses for GRG based on 2013 performance, despite ...
"Wilfully obtuse" RBS bosses accused of misleading MPs ...
www.cityam.com/1406076392/rbs-accused-misleading-mps
23 Jul 2014
RBS executives deliberately misled an influential committee of MPs in a ... that RBS's global restructuring group (GRG) was profiting from small ...
Tyrie v RBS: profit centre or "profit centre"? - FTAdviser.com
www.ftadviser.com > Your Industry > Companies & People
22 Jul 2014
RBS executives clashed with MPs last month in over whether the business, known as "GRG," was improperly incentivised to maximise its ...
Whistleblower: how RBS 'deliberately destroyed' firms ...
www.channel4.com/news/rbs-whistleblower-grg-business-destroy-video
11 Feb 2014
Staff inside RBS's global restructuring group, GRG, used "immoral, survivalist tactics" to destroy a number of businesses "that didn't need ...
Morning papers: RBS division faces 1,000 complaints ...
www.ftadviser.com > Investments > Economic Indicators
30 Jan 2014
Government adviser Lawrence Tomlinson has told MPs his dossier of ... At the time of the report, which claimed RBS was "killing off" small ...
RBS's reputation will struggle if it doesn't close GRG ...
www.standard.co.uk/.../rbss-reputation-will-struggle-if-it-doesnt-close-gr...
29 Jan 2014
RBS: 'Some wonder whether a bank should have such an entrepreneurial business as GRG within its ranks at all'. Anthony Hilton. Published: ...
'Vampire' bank RBS accused of ruining businesses and lives
www.businesszone.co.uk/topic/finances/rbs-accused-ruining.../55582<
Resources
Letter from the Treasury Committee Chair to Andrew Bailey FCA
Global Restructuring Group (GRG) - Complaints Review Process and Redress
For over three years, the Treasury Committ~e has been pressing for reasonable treatment for the many businesses that have been at the wrong end of RBS' Global Restructuring Group's bad practice. It is a step forward that, in the light of the FCA's mishandling of the IRHP redress scheme, the arrangements for redress announced by RBS on 8 November will be handled independently, by a recently retired high court judge.
Shredded: Inside RBS the bank that broke Britain.
The book, written by Ian Fraser, is a product of one-to-one interviews with hundreds of current and former employees and related companies and provides a definitive account of the failings of RBS and also deals extensively with the activities of GRG.