Hedges with thorns: the interest rate swaps review

The regulator has ordered banks to review their sales of interest rate hedging products to small businesses, many of whom were stung by these schemes' noxious conditions during the financial crisis. Adam Samuel reports on yet another mis-selling scandal.

Adam Samuel BA LLM DipPFS MCISI FCIArb Certs CII (MP&ER) Barrister and Attorney may be contacted at AdamSamuel@aol.com. His book, 'Complaints and Compensation: a Guide to the Financial Services Market', is available from his website, www.adamsamuel.com.

January and February saw three developments in the ongoing troubled relationship that the FSA has with the banking industry. First, the FSA announced what many thought was already supposed to be in progress: a review by banks into their mis-selling of interest rate hedging products. Unbeknown to most of the industry, the June 2012 announcement of this review was only supposed to represent the start of a pilot project.