Bank backs calls for SME tribunal

DIGITAL challenger bank Tide has backed calls for a tribunal system for small businesses to settle disputes with their lenders, but said increasing competition in the banking sector would go further in protecting firms.

It comes after the influential Treasury committee recommended the creation of a financial services tribunal with stronger powers to provide redress for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have been unfairly treated, but was rebuffed by the Government.

It prefers an ombudsman-style approach rather than a tribunal to resolve disputes. Calls for greater regulation for SMEs follow scandals at the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS in the wake of the financial crisis.

RBS’s now-defunct Global Restructuring Group was accused of pushing small businesses towards failure.