The head of Britain's financial watchdog told Royal Bank of Scotland to speed up its handling of compensation claims related to its treatment of struggling businesses during the financial crisis, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. RBS's Global Restructuring Group (GRG) has been accused by customers of driving them to bankruptcy in order to pick up their assets on the cheap. State-owned RBS has set aside 400 million pounds to cover the bill for claims against it.

The number of people registering as insolvent in England and Wales hit a five-year high in the third quarter, according to figures on Friday that hinted at trouble brewing in Britain’s consumer economy, Reuters reported. The government’s Insolvency Service said 27,807 people in England and Wales registered as insolvent between July and September, up from 22,389 in the three months to June and marking the biggest total since the third quarter of 2012. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the figure was just short of a three-year high struck in the first quarter of 2017.

Britain's financial watchdog is considering further action against Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for its treatment of struggling companies during and after the financial crisis, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The Financial Conduct Authority on Monday published a detailed summary of a report into RBS's Global Restructuring Group (GRG), after clashing with lawmakers over the disclosure of its full contents. Customers have accused the GRG of pushing ailing firms into bankruptcy to pick up their assets on the cheap.

Britain's Financial Conduct Authority has agreed to allow a confidential report on the Royal Bank of Scotland's treatment of struggling companies to be scrutinised by a barrister, MPs said on Tuesday. In a letter to MPs , Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the FCA, agreed to allow a barrister to check a summary of the report against its full contents, which the regulatory agency says was never meant to be public, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

The owner of failed British airline Monarch should, in principle, foot some of the bill for a massive repatriation effort co-ordinated by the country’s aviation authority, British transport minister Chris Grayling said on Monday. Monarch collapsed two weeks ago, wrecking the holiday plans of hundreds of thousands of Britons, a year after owner Greybull Capital secured a bailout for the struggling airline, Reuters reported.

British infrastructure projects seeking funds from the European Investment Bank will need to insure the bank against the risks of Brexit, its president said at the weekend, as he warned that Britain’s departure from the EU would damage its ability to fund infrastructure, the Financial Times reported.

Britain’s consumer borrowing boom may be about to hit a wall. Major banks are now more wary about extending unsecured credit than any time since 2008, shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. According to a Bank of England survey published Thursday, lenders are starting to see an increase in defaults and have tightened the criteria they set for borrowers, Bloomberg News reported. The change comes in the wake of multiple warnings from regulators that the pace of borrowing, with credit growth still running close to 10 percent a year, poses a risk to financial stability.

Britain’s transport minister said on Monday the costs of bringing home 110,000 customers of airline Monarch, which collapsed last week, were being discussed with credit and debit card companies, Reuters reported. Monarch went bust last week amid intense competition over passengers and a weaker pound following the Brexit vote decimated company profits. It is the largest British airline to collapse and its demise left thousands of customers stranded abroad.

British trade union Unite said on Wednesday it would launch legal action on behalf of over 1,800 workers who lost their jobs when Monarch Airlines went in to administration earlier in the week, Reuters reported. The airline collapsed on Monday and made 90 percent of the staff on Monarch Airlines and Travel Group redundant after falling victim to intense competition for flights and a weaker pound.

The head of the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority issued a new warning on the levels of consumer indebtedness and called for fresh thinking on how lending is run. With borrowing surging, FCA Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bailey highlighted his growing concern about payday lenders, excessive rates on overdrawn accounts and credit-card debts, Bloomberg News reported. He said that about five million credit-card borrowers are experiencing difficulties paying off their balance, resulting in costs of 2.50 pounds in interest and charges for every one pound of balance they repay.