Barclays Hit By New Charge Over 2008 Emergency Fundraising

By Max Colchester

Barclays PLC was charged for a second time by U.K. authorities over a criminal case relating to an emergency share raising in 2008.

The Serious Fraud Office levied charges of unlawful financial assistance against Barclays' operating company on Monday, in a move that ramps up pressure on the British lender. Last summer U.K. authorities charged Barclays over a $3 billion loan it made to Middle Eastern investors stemming from struggles in 2008. The British prosecutors had said the funds were then plowed back into Barclays to recapitalize it. Barclays has previously denied the allegations.

Those initial charges were made against the Barclays holding company. The new charge is significant as the operating company, Barclays Bank PLC, owns the lender's banking license. Regulators must deem the subsidiary to be "fit and proper" to hold the license. If found guilty, Barclays could, in theory, be at risk of losing its banking license.

In a statement Barclays said it would defend itself against the charges. The bank added that it didn't expect there to be any impact on its "ability to serve" customers. The bank hasn't said whether it would plead guilty or not against the charges.

The SFO case has sucked in a cadre of former executives who helped structure the deal at the height of the crisis which allowed the British bank to avoid being bailed out by taxpayers. The SFO has spent years probing how Barclays managed to woo Qatari investors to pump funds into the struggling bank. In particular what the purpose was of GBP322 million in "advisory services" that bank paid to Qatari investors.

British prosecutors last summer charged the former chief executive of Barclays with fraud and illegal payments along with three other former executives. A date for the trial is expected in due course.

Write to Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2018 03:50 ET (08:50 GMT)

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