Barclays fined £40m over ‘reckless’ Qatar fundraising

The FCA had found previously in 2022, external that the bank had paid hundreds of millions of pounds in fees to certain Qatari investors so that they would contribute new capital.

It said that Barclays had not informed the market or shareholders of these matters as it should have.

At the time, this giant fundraising exercise allowed Barclays to escape having to be rescued by the government, unlike competitors such as Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds.

Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the US in 2008, the whole financial system was in jeopardy.

Barclays’ fundraising efforts were subject to immense scrutiny not only from regulators, but the wider public as it faced legal challenges.

The bank looked to raise billions of pounds from sovereign wealth funds in China, Japan, Singapore and the Middle East, although the FCA had also alleged that it failed to disclose that it was paying higher fees to Qatari bodies.

For example, the bank paid one Qatari entity some £322m in fees for its participation over a number of years.

The Serious Fraud Office had alleged these were undisclosed extra fees demanded by the Qataris, paid through side agreements for what were described as advisory services.

But three former senior Barclays executives were acquitted after they became the first bankers to face a jury around criminal allegations centring on the 2008 crisis.

Charges against Barclays were also dropped prior to that trial.