Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to establish an independent inquiry into the handling by the Financial Conduct Authority of the alleged frauds at (1) Royal Bank of Scotland, and (2) Halifax Bank of Scotland.

As you are aware, the FCA is an independent non-governmental body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry. Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services, it has strictly limited powers in relation to the FCA. In particular, the Treasury has no general power of direction over the FCA and cannot intervene in individual cases.

Given the matters raised are the responsibility of the FCA, in view of its independence, it is not for the Government to provide direction.

However, as you may be aware, in the case of HBOS, Dame Linda Dobbs has been appointed as an independent legal expert to consider whether issues in the HBOS Reading Fraud were investigated and appropriately reported to authorities at the time by Lloyds Banking Group. At present the Dobbs review is ongoing and once completed, its findings will be shared with the FCA.

On Royal Bank of Scotland and GRG, the FCA has concluded their final investigation, which reaffirms the outcome of its enforcement investigation, which was announced in July 2018.

Finally, there are currently no plans for the Government to establish an independent review of the conduct of the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to the RBS and Lloyds Banking Group.