RBS 'wanted critic's mortgage back'

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A businessman who wrote a government report that criticised RBS has been told he can no longer remain a customer of the bank, according to the BBC's Panorama programme.

In the 2013 report, Lawrence Tomlinson accused RBS of systematically wrecking viable businesses.

And in 2014, RBS deputy chief executive Chris Sullivan told him he would have to take his mortgage, business and personal accounts to another bank.

But RBS said the decision had nothing to do with the critical report.

In view of your longstanding dissatisfaction with the bank, we have concluded that the required trust between you and the bank has irretrievably broken down.

Tomlinson's report accused RBS of using questionable property valuations to artificially downgrade viable businesses, which were then transferred to the bank's Global Restructuring Group (GRG, and charged extra interest and fees.

RBS denied GRG had treated customers unfairly. It commissioned its own inquiry, which rejected the main allegations in Tomlinson's report.

Last June, Sullivan sent an email to Tomlinson telling him to move his mortgage and all his bank accounts, the BBC reports.

The bank eventually backed down over the mortgage on his home, but Tomlinson had to find new bankers for his business, which employs more than 2,000 people.

RBS said trust had broken down because of a long-running dispute over a complaint Tomlinson had made in early 2012.

The BBC's Panorama programme has also spoken to business people who accuse Lloyds Banking Group of using similar practices to those outlined in Mr Tomlinson's report.

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