Thursday, July 17, 2014

Banks Do A Wonga

The Telegraph notes that after revelations that Britain's high-street banks issued legal letters from what appeared to be independent law firms demanding that they repay money owed to the banks, the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, Andrew Tyrie, wrote to the banks asking for an explanation.

The letters, despite being headed with names that make them look like they are from separate law firms, were actually from the banks' in-house legal teams.

In his response to Mr Tyrie, Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said the bank had used the name of SCM Solicitors, a business purportedly based in Hove, East Sussex, because customers in financial difficulty did not respond to letters from the bank itself.

Mr Tyrie is somehwat less than impressed and, according to the Telegraph, is of the view that the letters were "calculated to mislead".

Lloyds claims that letters were "intended to encourage customers to speak with us".

RBS, Nationwide and HSBC also used the names of law firms when sending correspondence from their own departments. 

Cynics have noted that Wonga were not fined for their letters because the mainstream banks were all playing the same dishonest game.

Britain's financial services industry is pox ridden!


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