Barclays’ recent scandals: a recap

BRITISH BANKING giant Barclays was charged alongside four of its former executives on Tuesday for 2008 dealings with Qatar. It is one of many scandals and legal issues that the bank has faced over the past five years.

June 2012: Barclays is fined US$453 million by United States and United Kingdom regulators after its employees manipulated a key market interest rate, Libor, between 2005 and 2009.

July 2012: Chairman Marcus Agius, CEO Bob Diamond and Chief Operating Officer Jerry del Missier resign amid the Libor scandal.

February 2014: Three former Barclays employees are charged in Britain with manipulating Libor.

April 2014: Another three former Barclays employees, based in New York, are charged by UK prosecutors.

May 2015: Barclays is fined US$2.4 billion by the US government for manipulating foreign exchange rates. It is one of four banks to pay a total of over US$5 billion in fines.

July 2016: Four former Barclays employees go to prison for manipulating Libor.

November 2015: British regulators fine Barclays £72 million (US$89 million) for failing to safeguard against the risk of the bank being used to facilitate financial crime.

Dec 2016: Barclays is one of several banks sued by the US government over the sale of risky mortgagebacked securities before the global financial crisis.

April 2017: CEO Jes Staley comes under regulatory investigation following his several attempts to identify a company whistle-blower, a breach of protection laws.

June 2017: Barclays, former CEO John Varley and three other former executives are charged with fraud relating to two fundraising deals with Qatar that allowed Barclays to avoid a government bailout during the 2008 crisis. The executives allegedly did not appropriately disclose side deals in which the Qatari investors received money and loans from Barclays.