LONDON - A British financial regulator said on Friday that it had hired a consultant and an accounting firm to assist in its review of the Royal Bank of Scotland‘s lending practices, including claims that the bank pushed some business clients into serious financial difficulties.
R.B.S., which was bailed out by the British government five years ago, was severely criticized in two reports last year about its treatment of small and medium-sized business clients.
The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority,  said that it had hired the consulting firm Promontory Financial Group â€"  which has come under scrutiny in the United States over its work with Wall Street banks and its ties to regulators â€"  and the accounting firm Mazars to prepare a report on R.B.S.’s treatment of business customers in financial difficulty.
“The review will also consider whether any poor practices identified are widespread and systematic,†the regulator said. “If this is the case, the second stage of the review will identify the root cause of these issues and make recommendations to address any shortcomings identified.â€
The F.C.A. Â plans to publish the outcome of its review in the third quarter.
In November, Lawrence Tomlinson, the British businessman and government adviser, claimed that the bank had pushed some business clients into default unnecessarily so it could charge certain fees and take over assets at a discount. His report focused on alleged poor practices in R.B.S.’s Global Restructuring Group.
Andrew Large, a former Bank of England deputy governor, said in a separate report in November that the bank had made progress since the 2008 financial crisis, but was not doing enough to lend to small and midsize businesses.
R.B.S. hired the law firm Clifford Chance to conduct an independent inquiry into the claims.
The government passed along the findings of Mr. Tomlinson’s report to the F.C.A. and the Prudential Regulation Authority, another of Britain’s financial regulators.
R.B.S. received more than 45 billion pounds, or about $74 billion, during the financial crisis five years ago, and George Osborne, the chancellor of the Exchequer, wants to begin selling the government’s 81 percent stake in the bank in the near future.
Ross M. McEwan, who took over as chief executive in October, has vowed to change the culture at R.B.S. and win back the trust of its customers.
But, the bank has suffered a series of stumbles that have hurt its image.
A systems crash in December left customers unable to pay with their debit or credit cards on one of the busiest online shopping days of the year. Nathan Bostock, the bank’s chief financial officer, resigned last year after less than three months on the job.
The bank also has found itself recently in the middle of a row between the British Prime Minister David Cameron and Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour Party over banker bonuses. Mr. Miliband wants the British government to block any attempts by R.B.S. to pay bonuses up to double a banker’s annual salary.
