UK banks pay out less than half refund pot for swaps mis-selling

[LONDON] Britain's banks have paid out less than half of the 4.4 billion pounds (US$6.7 billion) set aside to cover the mis-selling of complex interest rate hedging products, according to data from the financial regulator.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ordered banks to review 29,500 cases for possible mis-selling in 2013 after finding "serious failings" in how interest rate swaps were sold to small businesses.

The FCA said on Thursday that banks had so far paid out 1.8 billion pounds in compensation. The sums set aside also cover the cost of having to terminate the agreements early and having to employ more than 3,000 people to review the cases.

REUTERS