FSA fines bank £6.3 million for “serious failings” in sale of AIG Premier Access Bond
The Financial Services Authority has today fined Coutts, the private banking arm of part-nationalised RBS, for mis-selling an AIG bond to a large number of wealthy private clients. These clients suffered a loss in their investment as a result of the collapse of AIG in 2008. The FSA held that Coutts breached Principle 9 of the FSA Handbook, which requires that a “firm must take reasonable care to ensure the suitability of its advice and discretionary decisions for any customer who is entitled to rely up on its judgement”. The FSA final notice is here and its press release is here.
The FSA’s decision to fine Coutts will focus more attention on the recent and very bank-friendly High Court judgment in Rubenstein v HSBC, which we discussed in detail in this post.
