LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest banks have sofar paid out only 306.3 million pounds ($500.3 million) frommore than 3 billion pounds which they have set aside tocompensate small firms mis-sold complex interest rate hedgingproducts, the financial regulator said.
The Financial Conduct Authority said on Tuesday that thepace of banks reviewing cases of mis-selling was continuing toincrease. A total of 2,092 offers of compensation had beenaccepted by customers at the end of January, up from 1,040 atthe end of December.
The products were designed to protect smaller companiesagainst rising interest rates but when rates fell, they had topay large bills, typically running to tens of thousands ofpounds. Companies also faced penalties to get out of the deals,which many said they had not been told about.