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The FCA IRHP (Interest Rate Hedging Product) redress scheme was instigated by Vedanta’s CEO Abhishek Sachdev in 2012 who was also paid to advise the FCA on parts of the scheme. This did provide c£2.2bn of redress to c30,000 SMEs who were mis-sold interest rate swaps.
However, there have been many widespread criticisms of how the scheme operated and crucially which SMEs were deemed as ‘sophisticated’.
Vedanta Hedging (and several others including leading solicitor firms) have been arguing about these points since 2013. Partial vindication was achieved in the publication of the John Swift QC Report in December 2021.
The report is 491 pages long and included testimony from Vedanta’s Sachdev. One of the core striking findings was essentially that John Sqift QC couldn’t see any logical rationale for the arbitrary criteria used to exclude c5,000 SMEs on a ‘sophisticated’ basis.
The FCA have essentially washed their hands of this review which cost c£7m promising to do better next time, hence they are subject to a Judicial Review on this matter.
A ray of light however has emerged from internal FCA Board Minutes which suggest that the FCA will consider complaints from those SMEs excluded from the IRHP Review but only until 14 Dec 2022. This is a hidden ticking clock as James Hurley writes in The Times because the FCA and the Banks have not publicised this.
Given that Vedanta Hedging helped to instigate the IRHP, we have helped thousands of SMEs to challenge these IRHP sales, and we can assist you in making a complaint to the FCA. Please contact us urgently if you wish to discuss by booking a call with our CEO here
