The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has appointed Clifford Chance (CC) to conduct an inquiry into the its lending to small and medium sized enterprises (SME) after the bank was slammed in two separate reports.

One of those reports, commissioned by RBS and led by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Andrew Large, criticised the treatment of some SME customers, and said the bank must confront some “serious allegations” by a number of firms.