Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Ex-Barclays CEO appears in court over fraud charges

-

Former Barclays chief executive John Varley appeared in a London court on Monday over fraud accusations, the first time a boss of a global bank has faced charges arising from the 2008 financial crisis.

Britain's Serious Fraud Office last month charged Barclays bank and four former managers, including Varley, with "conspiracy to commit fraud" linked to emergency fundraising from Qatar during the global financial crisis.

All four appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, speaking only to confirm their names and addresses.

The SFO charged Varley with two counts of fraud by false representation over two emergency loans, when Qatar invested £6.1 billion ($7.9 billion, 6.9 billion euros) that prevented the bank from being bailed out by the British government.

The other three charged are Barclays' former executive chairman of investment banking Roger Jenkins, the former chief executive of Barclays wealth and investment management Thomas Kalaris and former European head of financial institutions group Richard Boath.

All four are expected to deny the charges.

Barclays said it "was considering its position in relation to these developments" as it "awaits further details of the charges from the SFO".

Investigations have also focused on advisory services worth £322 million, which Barclays agreed to pay the Qatar Investment Authority.

By raising money from Qatar, Barclays avoided a UK government bailout at a time when rivals Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds had no choice but to be pumped with billions of pounds of British taxpayers' money.

Former Barclays chief executive John Varley appeared in a London court on Monday over fraud accusations, the first time a boss of a global bank has faced charges arising from the 2008 financial crisis.

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office last month charged Barclays bank and four former managers, including Varley, with “conspiracy to commit fraud” linked to emergency fundraising from Qatar during the global financial crisis.

All four appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, speaking only to confirm their names and addresses.

The SFO charged Varley with two counts of fraud by false representation over two emergency loans, when Qatar invested £6.1 billion ($7.9 billion, 6.9 billion euros) that prevented the bank from being bailed out by the British government.

The other three charged are Barclays’ former executive chairman of investment banking Roger Jenkins, the former chief executive of Barclays wealth and investment management Thomas Kalaris and former European head of financial institutions group Richard Boath.

All four are expected to deny the charges.

Barclays said it “was considering its position in relation to these developments” as it “awaits further details of the charges from the SFO”.

Investigations have also focused on advisory services worth £322 million, which Barclays agreed to pay the Qatar Investment Authority.

By raising money from Qatar, Barclays avoided a UK government bailout at a time when rivals Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds had no choice but to be pumped with billions of pounds of British taxpayers’ money.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

World

Calling for urgent action is the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Business

The cathedral is on track to reopen on December 8 - Copyright AFP Ludovic MARINParis’s Notre-Dame Cathedral, ravaged by fire in 2019, is on...

Business

Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser speaks during the CERAWeek oil summit in Houston, Texas - Copyright AFP Mark FelixPointing to the still...

Business

Hyundai on Wednesday revealed plans to invest more than $50 billion in South Korea by 2026.