RBS chairman agrees: We must improve lending

Sir Philip Hampton, the chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, has backed an independent review that attacked the bank’s lending practices.

Sir Andrew Large’s review of the business found that three in 10 of its small-business lending customers did not believe RBS was “open for lending”. It also found that RBS’s processing of loan applications took longer than at other banks, and that staff on the front line were risk averse.

“Andrew Large said that we are too risk averse when it comes to lending, and he’s right,” Sir Philip said at the CBI conference yesterday. “Five years ago we were lending to anyone with a pulse, but now there’s too much ‘computer says no’ and an over-reliance on slavish risk models.

“We need a bit more imagination because we are open for business but are not lending,” he added.