Cat MacLean,
A joint venture company, MBM Veritas, has been set up to fight for hundreds of Scottish firms who were victims of Royal Bank of Scotland’s notorious Global Restructuring Group between 2008 and 2013.
MBM Veritas is a 50-50 venture between MBM Commercial, one of Scotland’s award-winning specialist law firms, and Veritas Treasury, an Edinburgh-based financial advisory company for businesses.
Companies across Scotland, Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK were crushed by RBS’s decision to ‘Dash for Cash’ in the aftermath of the banking collapse.
Bank staff were encouraged to ‘provoke a default’ to pull cash into the bank’s coffers. Bankers’ bonuses were paid on the back of this destructive activity.
RBS has recently apologised for its behaviour during this period and has set up a compensation scheme and complaints process, an element of which may be potentially overseen by retired High Court judge Sir William Blackburne.
However, MBM Veritas argue the compensation scheme is too narrow in its role and that it excludes individuals who have lost everything because of the GRG’s action. RBS have said it will automatically refund certain fees paid to SME customers, yet statistics show that many of the affected businesses have already been made insolvent.
This may disqualify the individuals who owned these firms from claiming compensation.
MBM Veritas is holding a seminar for Scottish firms affected in Edinburgh on Thursday 15th December at MBM Commercial’s office in Edinburgh. This is prior to a planned debate in the House of Commons later that afternoon on the GRG scandal.
Veritas Treasury was set up by two senior bankers, Scott Cowan and Andrew Mackenzie, who claim that many bank clients were forced to agree to the Bank’s extreme requests under duress from banking officials driven to meet their bonus targets after the 2008 banking collapse. They have set up the joint venture company with MBM Commercial in a twin-pronged approach to help Scottish companies who wish to right these wrongs.
MBM Commercial have built a reputation for defending the interest of business customers who feel they have been let down by UK banks.
Cat MacLean, who was Scotland’s Solicitor of the Year in 2015, leads Scottish Litigation Team of Year 2016 at MBM Commercial, and has been successful in winning a keynote action at the Supreme Court against RBS over the case of businessman Derek Carlyle.
Veritas Treasury have successfully advised a number of clients who were mis-sold interest rate hedging products and have seen how the Banks can manipulate redress schemes to mimimise payouts.
Scott Cowan, director of Veritas Treasury, said: “While we welcome RBS’s decision to set up a compensation scheme, it falls way short in a number of areas. There is a feeling that this is an RBS whitewash when it needs to face the full consequences of its behaviour at a dark time in its history.’’
Cat MacLean, partner and solicitor advocate, said: “We will be penning a letter to the FCA to ask about their involvement with the RBS’s scheme. Does it have their backing and approval for example? The announcement of the compensation scheme on the day of the US elections smacks of burying bad news on a big news day. There are a number of major problems with the scheme including the fact that the bank are not prevented from taking foreclosure action in relation to any company who uses the new complaints procedure, and also the arbitrary labelling of what constitutes complex fees. Above all, it is only fair that a compensation scheme should be open to individuals who have had their firms destroyed by the GRG activities.’’
Andrew Mackenzie, a former banker who previously spent time working in RBS’s Global Restructuring Group, said: “Consequential losses are likely to be the most important, and contentious, part of any claim, and yet that is the area where there is no independent oversight. Joining together with MBM Commercial means we have the capability and knowledge to help companies tackle RBS. This is vital for those seeking recompense.’’
MBM Veritas seminar and Q&A on RBS Global Restructuring Group Compensation Scheme, is from 8.30 to 10.15am at MBM Commercial, 125 Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4AD.
Anyone wishing to sign up can do so via EventBrite.