SME banking 2002 behavioural undertakings: report on banks’ compliance audit 2021
2021 audit report into whether 8 leading UK banks are complying with undertakings they gave not to bundle loans and accounts.
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In 2002, a number of banks agreed that they would no longer (except for in specific circumstances) make a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customer open or maintain a business current account in order to get a business loan. This practice is commonly known as ‘bundling’ and was prevented by behavioural undertakings.
In 2014, 8 banks agreed to submit annual audit reports of their systems and procedures to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA reviews these and reports on its findings each year in the reports on compliance above.
The following 8 banks are currently subject to the bundling prohibition:
- AIB Group (UK) plc
- Bank of Ireland
- Barclays Bank plc
- Clydesdale Bank plc
- HSBC UK Bank plc and HSBC Bank plc (together, HSBC)
- Lloyds Banking Group
- Danske Bank
- NatWest Group plc (formerly the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which includes Ulster Bank Limited in Northern Ireland).