I’m sorry I called you a tart

Apology to woman banker from ex-Barclays ‘Big Dog’

THE Barclays dealmaker nicknamed ‘Big Dog’ yesterday apologised for calling a top woman banker a ‘dolly bird’ and a ‘tart’.

Roger Jenkins, 64, is accused of sexism and misogyny in a bitter court dispute over a multibillion-pound bailout deal during the 2008 financial crisis.

Amanda Staveley, 47, who once dated Prince Andrew, has accused Barclays of edging her out of a lucrative deal to save the bank during the financial crisis and is claiming up to £1.6billion.

Last week the High Court heard that Mr Jenkins said ‘I can handle dolly birds’ to a colleague and that he was going to ‘call the tart’.

The revelations emerged in documents made public after a Daily Mail application.

Giving evidence yesterday, Mr Jenkins said: ‘I apologise to Ms Staveley for any inappropriate words I used 12 years ago.’

Earlier this week the court heard that Mr Jenkins, who was then Britain’s best-paid banker, was paid £167million over four years, including a £50million exit package.

As other banks took

Government bailouts in 2008, Barclays began to woo Middle Eastern investors to raise cash to see it through the financial crisis, the court heard. Miss Staveley’s firm PCP Capital Partners is suing Barclays for up to £1.6billion, claiming it edged her out of the deal. Mr Jenkins was acquitted of wrongdoing related to the 2008 fundraising but Miss Staveley’s team claimed he was either ‘dishonest’ or ‘reckless’ to let the deal go ahead. It raised £7.3billion from investors from Qatar and Abu Dhabi. PCP was arranging with the Abu Dhabi group to buy Barclays shares worth £3.5billion. Miss Staveley, pictured, says Barclays told her that PCP and the Abu Dhabi investors would be offered the same deal as other major investors. Instead the bank misled markets and funnelled £ 346million in secret fees to the Qataris, according to court documents. Barclays insists that the fees were legitimate. The case continues.