12 September 2007
There is speculation the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) could drop next year's High Court case over bank overdraft and penalty charges. The OFT is part-way through the investigation which was expected to be brought against high street banks in January 2008. A senior official told the BBC, the case would only be dropped if the banks issue a compromise on overdraft fees which were in customers' interests.
Cavendish Elithorn, a senior official at the OFT told the BBC, "If we do our own financial analysis, and they [the banks] come in with a number that is lower than our analysis would suggest is an unfair charge, there is no need for the court case to go forward," he said.
"We will be looking out for what is the best outcome for the consumer."
On Monday Lloyds TSB became the first of the UK high street banks to cut some of its overdraft charges with the other banks and building societies expected to follow over the next months.
Latest figures from the Office of Fair Trading estimate that UK banking industry receive up to £3.5 billion a year in overdraft fees and penalty charges.
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