Banker sorry for calling top broker ‘thick’
A BUSINESSWOMAN embroiled in a £1.6billion High Court battle with Barclays has accepted an apology from a former bank boss who called her “thick as **** ”, a judge has heard.
Stephen Jones, who worked in Barclays’ investment banking division, made the comment about Amanda Staveley in a telephone call with another then bank chief in October 2008, the High Court heard.
Details of the call emerged at a trial in front of Mr Justice Waksman yesterday.
Previously, the hearing has been told bankers called her a “dolly bird” and a “tart.”
Yesterday a lawyer, who has been given instructions by Ms Staveley, told the judge that she had accepted an apology made privately by Mr Jones.
Complaints
Ms Staveley, 47, who in recent months has been involved in brokering a deal which could see a Saudi consortium take control of Newcastle United FC, has made complaints about the behaviour of Barclays bosses when negotiating investment deals during the 2008 financial crisis.
She said Barclays agreed to provide an unsecured £2billion loan to Qatari investors, but the loan was allegedly concealed from the market, shareholders and PCP Capital Partners, a private equity firm she runs.
PCP is suing the bank and wants £1.6billion in damages.
Barclays disputes the claim said it should be dismissed.
A transcript of the 2008 call in which Mr Jones criticised Ms Staveley was made available to journalists when he began giving evidence yesterday.
The transcript showed that Mr Jones had said: “She’s thick as **** as well. Anyway, there you go. You can’t have everything.” His then and colleague, Stephen Morse, had replied: “Well, you know she dated Prince Andrew...”
Mr Jones had said: “Yeah, that’s it. That’s the one. She’s got large breasts, so, you know, sorry...”
Ms Staveley said PCP introduced Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour to Barclays and he “subscribed” to invest £3.25billion.
She said PCP is owed money for the work it did. Barclays said PCP’s claim is made “of sand”.
The hearing continues.