UK's FSA opens door to swaps compensation claims

LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Britain's financial regulatorsaid on Thursday the results of a study into the sale of complexinterest rate hedging products to small firms by banks had foundthat the vast majority had been mis-sold.

The findings leave banks vulnerable to a wave of claims andcould leave them facing billions of pounds in compensationclaims, some derivatives experts have said.

The Financial Services Authority said it found that, in over90 percent of the 173 cases examined in the study, the sales didnot comply with at least one or more regulatory requirement. Itsaid a significant proportion of the cases will result infinancial compensation being due to the customer.