The FCA has updated its webpage on banks’ reviews of sales of interest rate hedging. It has also published its latest monthly update on the issue. The FCA reports that:

• the banks’ reviews are continuing at an increased pace. There has been a positive response from the four major banks’ to the FCA’s November 2013 Dear CEO letter in which the FCA re-asserted its expectation that redress should be delivered to customers quickly and to agree practical ways to speed up the process;
• three of the four major banks expect to complete all initial redress determinations by May 2014. The banks have also agreed to publish projections for completion of their reviews, giving customers full visibility of their delivery plans and these can be seen on the FCA’s webpage;
• the banks are also implementing initiatives to speed up the redress process. For example, some banks will start sending out lower risk redress offers to customers (that is, where the customer is being offered a full refund of payments) before they have been checked by the independent reviewer. The cases will still be checked by an independent reviewer, but the change in process will serve to benefit customers sooner; and
• eight out of nine banks have now agreed to split payments for initial redress and consequential loss. The FCA expects this change to simplify and speed up the process for paying basic redress to customers.

The FCA has also published a revised chart showing the overall progress of sales through stages of the review and a revised chart showing the number of sales at each stage of the review on a bank-by-bank basis.

View Interest rate hedging products, 6 December 2013

View Statement on the monthly update of the interest rate hedging products redress scheme, 6 December 2013

View Progress of sales through stages of the review as at 28 November 2013, 28 November 2013

View Number of sales at each stage of the review, 28 November 2013