 has reopened its investigation into Barclays (LON:BARC) emergency £7.3 billion cash call during the financial crisis.){kind=link}
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has reopened its investigation into Barclay,s (LON:BARC) emergency £7.3 billion cash call during height of the global financial crisis.
The city watchdog has reportedly begun a series of interviews in relation to the case, following a review of new evidence on the matter. This coincided with a similar government-funded investigation led by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into the allegations, which is also set to reach a deliberation in March. Senior Executives at the time, such as Bob Diamond and Jon Varley were among those investigated by the office.
Previously, the FCA launched an investigation in 2013 over the British bank’s 2008 capital raising in which Barclays failed to disclose arrangements with Qatari investors, which totaled £2.4 billion. The bank had engaged in an emergency cash call exercise in a bid to avoid a Government bail-out, as was the case with banks such as Lloyds (LON:LLOY) and RBS (LON:RBS).
As a consequence, the authority fined the scrutinized ban £50 million to settle the case. Barclays have declined to comment on the matter but confirmed that they intend to contest the FCA case, pending the outcome of the Government SFO investigation.
Whilst the authority have already issued a fine to the bank, the re-opening of the investigation may lead to a revision of the penalty depending on its findings.
This follows claims made against Barclays reported by The Guardian, HSBC (LON:HSBA) and Coutt’s over involvement in processing around $740 million (£598 million) on behalf of Russian money launderers. The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and spans the period of 2010-2014.
According to comments to the Guardian, RBS stated on the matter:
“We are committed to combating financial crime and money laundering in line with our regulations and have controls and safeguards in place to identify, assess, monitor and mitigate these risks.”
HSBC also added: “This case highlights the need for greater information sharing between the public and private sectors, each of whom holds important information the other does not.”
Shares in Barclays remain steady amid the news, with shares currently trading at 0.07 percent as of 12.17PM (GMT).