Former Barclays Executives Acquitted of Fraud Dating Back to the 2008 Financial Crisis
February 28 2020 - 10:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Adriano Marchese
Three former Barclays executives were acquitted of fraud on
Friday, in the U.K.'s first trial of bank executives for misconduct
during the financial crisis.
The U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office said that Roger Jenkins, Richard
Boath and Thomas Kalaris were acquitted of charges of conspiracy to
commit fraud in relation to allegedly misleading markets and
investors over capital-raising agreements with Qatar Holding LLC
and Challenger Universal Ltd. worth $15 billion in June and October
of 2008.
The decision marks another defeat for the SFO after cases
against both the bank and the former CEO John Varley were
previously dismissed.
In the summer of 2017, the SFO charged Barclays, accusing it of
lending $3 billion to Qatar to effectively fund its own bailout.
The SFO also investigated hundreds of millions of dollars worth of
advisory services that were paid by the bank to Qatari investors.
Barclays had previously denied that the loan was for the purpose of
buying its own shares and maintained that the advisory-services
payments were for legitimate business purposes.
The Qatari equity injection allowed Barclays to avoid a
state-backed rescue which wasn't the case for its peers, Royal Bank
of Scotland Group PLC and Lloyds Banking Group PLC.
In May 2018, the Crown Court dismissed the charges against
Barclays, which included conspiracy with former executives to
commit fraud and provided "unlawful financial assistance." A case
against Mr Varley was also dismissed last year.
Commenting on the acquittals Friday, the SFO said: "Our
prosecution decisions are always based on the evidence that is
available, and we are determined to bring perpetrators of serious
financial crime to justice. Wherever our evidential and public
interest tests are met, we will always endeavor to bring this
before a court."
Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 28, 2020 10:44 ET (15:44 GMT)
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