FSA takes tough action on poor bank complaints handling

The FSA is taking a hardline approach after finding weaknesses in five banks' handling of customer complaints.

As a result of a review, five banks are undertaking major changes to the way they deal with complaints and two have been referred to enforcement for further investigation. The review looked at several banking groups responsible for more than 70% of the complaints firms receive and reported to the FSA and over 60% of those resolved by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Names of the banks have not been revealed but the FOS received the highest number of complaints about Lloyds Group between July and December last year. The banking group received more than 20,000 complaints, near...