The Financial Conduct Authority has been accused of betraying the confidence of whistleblowers by passing on evidence and sensitive information to the high street banks that were the subject of their complaints.
Representatives of small businesses who met the City regulator to air concerns that banks had been falsifying customer records are furious that the files they presented have ended up in the hands of lenders, without their permission having been sought.
The SME Alliance, an organisation which represents private companies who are in dispute with financial organisations, claimed that some customers who had provided evidence in confidence may have been “badly compromised” by the regulator passing sensitive information to their bank.
Andrew Tyrie, Tory chairman of the Treasury select committee, is to write to