The UK's largest banks stand accused of "cross subsidising" cheap loans by overcharging for extra services – prompting corporate treasurers to warn that competition is being stifled.

The Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT), which represents finance directors and treasurers from the FTSE 100 and across UK business, said that banks pitched low because chief executives were often blinded by the loan's headline price. But the loan offers came with the "implied message" that they expected to also secure the lucrative additional business, such as foreign exchange trading. This made alternative sources of finance, such as issuing bonds on capital markets or private placements to institutional investors, appear expensive, the association said in its submission to a Treasury review of alternative finance, led by Legal & General's chief executive Tim Breedon....Read more here--: UK banks 'hiding extra costs' in cheap loans