In one of the first significance Court Cases on the topic, a couple of property/hotel business people have ‘failed entirely’ in their claim that RBS mis-sold them what was a relatively straightforward SWAP contract.
There were a number of points that came out of the very clear judgement, but a significant one for bank business customers is the importance of having your own records of discussions and agreements with the bank, with careful retention of documents. In this case the bank won the case partly because they were the only party that had any record of the discussions that had taken place.
It is very common for me to be asked to help a business in a ‘Lender Relations’ issue only to find that the client doesn’t have even the most basic of paperwork documenting agreements and discussions with the bank. That can make it difficult to piece together what might have later become a complex sequence of events leading up to a problem.
Your bank is like any other supplier with whom you have a contractual relationship. Be sure to keep your files in order!