from the BBC

Bank savings literature contained up to 100% bull, FSA says

The wording of some bank savings product literature recalled by HSBC earlier this week was 100% bullshit, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) has said.

On Monday HSBC withdrew from branches its savings literature for the 3.20%, 3.60% and 5.00% rate accounts as a precaution. Treasury Minister Sajid Javid said the findings were "completely unacceptable", but HSBC said it did not believe it was a financial safety issue. The FSA said banks would now be required to read their savings product literature.

"In order to get to the bottom of this, we're going to be requiring every bank to read every line in their sales literature," Martin Wheatley, the FSA's chief executive, told the BBC. "If we find any other cases, we will pursue our investigations vigorously until we find out what's happened and put a stop to it." Mr Wheatley said it was "highly likely" that criminal negligence was to blame for bullshit being found in some literature.