Coutts, the private banking arm of RBS, has confessed it may have given thousands of customers unsuitable investments advice for more than half a century.
The bank’s chief executive, Michael Morley, has written to investors warning that some of them may have been sold products that came with more risk than they wanted.
The private bank and wealth manager told the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that it will review the suitability of advice for all customers who held investments on Nov 26 2012, when it introduced improved advice processes.
The bank will review customer files going back as far as 1957, and added that "if clients have suffered any financial detriment, they will be compensated in full".
Media report suggests that nearly 15,000 clients, who typically have a minimum of £1million to invest, will be contacted. The first letters were sent out last month.