Councils missing out on £16bn in interest savings by refinancing LOBO loans via Government
Posted inCitizen Debt Audit

Councils missing out on £16bn in interest savings by refinancing LOBO loans via Government

Earlier this month, Kent County Council and bankrupt Northamptonshire County Council announced they were refinancing LOBO loans taken out from state-owned RBS. Kent County Council refinanced LOBO loans worth £60m at around 4.2% interest, mostly with a loan from the government’s Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) at 2.21% interest. Northamptonshire County Council did the same for a £20 million LOBO loan. LOBOs are expensive long-term loans we consider illegitimate for reasons outlined in chapter 5 in our recent report on the citizen debt audit in the London borough of Newham. Following the announcement of loan refinancing savings, we conducted an... [continues]
Why is The FCA Incapable of Protecting Small Business?
Posted inRBS - GRG

Why is The FCA Incapable of Protecting Small Business?

Andrew Bailey, CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), fronts the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) 10am on Tuesday to account for the City regulator's recent performance. Top of the list of questions for TSC MPs will undoubtedly be the RBS Global Restructuring Group (GRG) scandal, including how the financial regulator has dealt with GRG victims complaints and the delayed RBS GRG s166 report, first commissioned in 2014. An initial summary report, ignoring senior RBS managers' roles, was released last week. The MPs ought to ask Andrew Bailey more fundamental questions. Why is the FCA’s Head of Retail Banking Supervision informing... [continues]