Under the rules of the scheme, approved by the Treasury Department, information disclosed within the group of banks could not be turned over to the FBI or police.

BBC: Web attacks 'not electronic Pearl Harbor'

The rules of the RBS pension scheme are outlined in the bank's annual report for 2007.

BBC: Goodwin's pension hits ?703,000

Meanwhile, the rules of the government's dispersal scheme have recently been tightened: if asylum seekers refuse to be relocated to a place of the government's choosing (as some do), they now risk losing benefits at once.

ECONOMIST: Time for some honesty on asylum

Card scheme rules say claims must be submitted within 540 days of a transaction being made.

BBC: Debit card customers tied down by time limit on refunds

The BBC's chief political correspondent, Norman Smith, said Treasury officials were trying to work out a definition of the rules surrounding eligibility for the mortgage guarantee scheme that allowed parents to buy a home for their children but not to buy a holiday home.

BBC: Budget 2013: Row over 'second home subsidy'

It also said that promoters could sidestep rules requiring registration of corporate tax shelters, because the scheme was being sold to individuals.

FORBES: U.S. tax rackets

John had beaten that deadline, but card scheme rules also say a chargeback is also supposed to be claimed within 540 days of the transaction.

BBC: Debit card customers tied down by time limit on refunds

Orkney MSP said the new rules had resulted in higher levels of penalties due to unintentional errors in livestock paperwork and a new interpretation of land eligibility rules for Single Farm Payment (SFP) claims or Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS).

BBC: Member's debate: Penalties for farmers