Overdraft ruling hits British banks

LONDON, April 24 (UPI) -- A judge in Britain has ruled against British banks in a case involving overdraft charges, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported Thursday.

Justice Andrew Smith ruled in favor of the Office of Fair Trading by deciding it could apply regulations that oversee consumer contracts when deciding whether a bank's overdraft charges are fair, the BBC reported.

Smith also said that most of the bank policies he reviewed were coherent and fair.

The case stems from widespread issues with overdrafts. In Britain, banks returned a total of $1.5 billion in overdraft charges to 378,000 customers, the BBC estimated.