The FCA has fined 3 entities within the HSBC group £6.2m for failures in treatment of customers in financial difficulty. For a period of around 15 months, ending in October 2018, it found the bank had not properly considered customers’ circumstances when they missed payments and so did not always carry out the right affordability assessments. The failings were caused by poor policies and procedures and deficiencies in staff training.
The bank discovered the issues itself in 2018, notified the FCA, invested large amounts of money in putting the failings right and also paid redress of over £185m to customers. The FCA noted that the costs involved in putting the issue right should serve as a warning to all lenders about the importance of understanding customers’ circumstances.