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RBS 'misled' parliament over scandal-hit restructuring unit, lawmaker says

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RBS 'misled' parliament over scandal-hit restructuring unit, lawmaker says

British lawmaker Clive Lewis claimed that Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc misled parliament over the nature of its now-defunct restructuring division, which allegedly mistreated struggling small businesses, The Times of London reported Feb. 7.

Lewis, who serves as a junior shadow treasury minister for the opposition Labour Party, said he had seen a full copy of a report into the activities of the Global Restructuring Group that he said revealed that the bank's behavior was "systemic and widespread." Speaking under parliamentary privilege, Lewis added that a summary of the report issued by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority in 2017 was "sanitized."

Based on his reading of the report, Lewis, who has spoken previously in Parliament on the issue, claimed that RBS executives misled the Treasury Select Committee in evidence, noting that they "had a stated policy of misleading" the committee. He also noted a passage in the report detailing how RBS employees talked about one family business losing "their shirts" as the bank was getting a "chunky equity deal."

He said he had handed the leaked copy of the report to the office of Nicky Morgan, chairwoman of the Treasury committee, which was set to question FCA CEO Andrew Bailey on Feb. 7, according to the report.

The FCA has so far declined to publish the full report, prepared by consultancy Promontory. The regulator says those named in it must be given the opportunity to reply, a stance that has drawn criticism from lawmakers and others.