Is the OFT giving up on the overdraft charge challenge?
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is expected to make an announcement tomorrow regarding the recent setback in the legal battle with UK banks about overdraft charges. While rumours in this particular case have been incorrect before, there is intense speculation that the OFT is about to drop its legal challenge and will not commit itself to an appeal.
If the announcement confirms this particular speculation in the market, it will be a major setback to UK banking customers and many campaign groups who have spent large amounts of money getting to where we are today. While strictly speaking this may not be the end of the case, with the OFT potentially looking at other means to challenge the charging structure within the UK banking sector, there is no doubt it is a massive setback.
This will not go down well with UK voters as we approach the next general election, at a time when the UK government has been trying to paint the banking sector as the devil and launched vicious attacks on those who work in the sector. So it looks as though UK banks could potentially avoid a multibillion pound compensation program although UK banking customers could well see their overall banking charges increase in the short, medium and longer term.
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