We need regulator with teeth who is willing to bite, says MP

221217 Kevin Hollinrake MP for Thirsk and Malton in front of the market cross in Easingwold.

A YORKSHIRE MP is calling for the creation of a watchdog 'who is prepared to bite' as anger grows over the delay in publishing a report into claims that a state-backed bank mistreated some of its small business customers.

The City watchdog has said it is “highly unlikely” that a report into RBS’s GRG, the lender’s controversial restructuring arm, will be published before a deadline imposed by MPs, but it has agreed to send them a copy.

Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton and co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking, demanded the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publish the report “without delay”.

He said: “What we need is a regulator with teeth and who is prepared to bite. What we seem to have is a regulator who first seeks the approval of the banks they are regulating before acting.”

Andrew Bailey, the head of the FCA, was ordered by Treasury Select Committee chair Nicky Morgan to release its report into GRG.

However, Mr Bailey has written to the MP saying that “legal impediments” make it improbable that the FCA will be able to publish before the February 16 deadline.

The legal hurdles include having to obtain the consent of “all persons from whom information was obtained” and “to whom the information relates”.