Banks price fixing - Barclays & RBS raided.

Sounds like something from the movies but government officials have raided the offices of Barclays Bank & RBS(Royal Bank of Scotland) over the costs of commercial loans.

Whats the odds they won't be bragging about that on their adverts....

Published Date: 03 June 2008 - By ALASTAIR JAMIESON

ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Barclays have been raided by government officials investigating allegations of price-fixing involving the cost of commercial loans.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) confirmed it had launched a probe into "alleged anti-competitive conduct" by the two firms, and said the inquiry had a "narrow focus".

The trading watchdog added: "The OFT's investigation is at an early stage. The OFT will not be in a position to conclude whether the law has in fact been infringed, until it has completed its investigation and assessed the available evidence."

Barclays said it contacted the OFT on 17 March after it became aware that certain members of the professional services team in its commercial banking operation had "been approached from outside Barclays in a manner which we regarded as inappropriate".

These concerns were thought to have been sparked by alleged approaches from RBS to Barclays over sharing information such as the cost of loans to legal and accountancy firms.

Barclays has applied for leniency, meaning it could be spared a fine if the OFT uncovers any wrongdoing. Firms can be fined up to 10 per cent of their turnover under the Competition Act.

A spokesman said: "The OFT started an investigation in which Barclays is participating.

"The investigation is operating within the confines of the professional services banking area and we believe that, if there is any issue, it starts and stops there."

An RBS spokesman said: "As the OFT has stated, they are in the early stages of an investigation. We are, as always, co-operating fully with the regulatory authorities and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further."

UK banks have also come under OFT scrutiny regarding overdraft fees.

The regulator is challenging the overdraft fees of eight banks, including Barclays and RBS, in a High Court action.

Let us hope that should this be proven that no mercy is shown to either Barclays (which has applied for leniency) or RBS and that they are both fined the the maximum 10 per cent of their turnover under the Competition Act.

Let the government do to them what they do to their customers on a regular basis...

Barclays are apparantly "Fluent in Finance."

Well, that's fantastic. It's just a shame none of the fucking Indians that answer their phones are fluent in English.

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