UK regulators have fined Barclays £50 million (€57mn) for allegedly “failing to disclose certain arrangements” about the bank’s controversial Qatari fundraising 14 years ago.
Mark Steward, head of enforcement at the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said Barclays had failed to make appropriate disclosures about paying “hundreds of millions of pounds in fees to certain Qatari investors so that they would contribute new capital” at the height of the financial crisis.
“Barclays’ failure to disclose these matters was reckless and lacked integrity and followed an earlier failure to disclose fees paid to Qatari investors in June 2008,” Mr Steward added. “There was no legitimate reason or excuse for failing to disclose these matters.”
Barclays, which has faced several legal cases over the Qatar fundraisings, is contesting the FCA’s decision to the regulator’s upper tribunal. The FCA first issued a warning notice about the deal in 2013, but paused its action pending the outcome of cases brought by the Serious Fraud Office, which concluded in 2019.
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“Barclays has referred the findings of the regulatory decisions committee to the upper tribunal for reconsideration,” it said. - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022
