More MPs demand inquiry into RBoS action group
SEVERAL MPs including Kevin Hollinrake and Julia Lopez have thrown their weight behind calls for an investigation into a group set up to sue Royal Bank of Scotland. The demands follow Mail on Sunday scrutiny of the RBoS Shareholders Action Group, which has already been brought to the attention of the Ministry of Justice. Lib Dem Norman Lamb has asked Justice Secretary David Gauke to look into the group, which he feels should be regulated. Now a number of other MPs have backed the campaign including Hollinrake, a Conservative MP who co-chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking alongside Lamb.
The Mail on Sunday has also learned that Lopez, Tory MP for Hornchurch and Upminster, last week wrote to Gauke on the matter after a constituent raised concerns. And Labour’s Steve Pound has written to Nicky Morgan, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee. Lamb called for an urgent inquiry into the group after a seven-month Mail on Sunday investigation into a fraudster at the company.
Gerard Walsh, who has been described as a fraudster by a civil court, is trying to claim £3.75 million out of a £200 million settlement shareholders agreed with RBS last summer. Investors have only been paid around £25 million so far as a legal battle is waged between the action group and Manx Capital, the investment vehicle of Trevor Hemmings which took control of the mass legal claim shortly before the £200 million agreement.
Hollinrake said last night: ‘Clearly Gerard Walsh is unregulated, the action group is unregulated, and, despite this huge settlement being secured by the shareholders, a very small fraction of that has been paid out so far.’