 has been charged over a $3 billion (£2.2 billion) loan given to Qatar in 2008. The Serious Fraud Office){kind=link}
Barclays Bank (LON: BARC) has been charged over a $3 billion (£2.2 billion) loan given to Qatar in 2008.
The Serious Fraud Office has also extended a charge brought against the parent firm for “unlawful financial assistance” in July 2017.
“Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC intend to defend the respective charges brought against them,” said the banking group.
“Barclays does not expect there to be an impact on its ability to serve its customers and clients as a consequence of the charge having been brought,” it said in a statement.
The SFO has said that the loan was “unlawful financial assistance” because it was used to buy shares in Barclays.
The emergency fundraising that was carried out in 2008 occurred so that Barclays would not have to be bailed out, which happened to rivals including Lloyds Banking Group (LON: LLOY) and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON: RBS).
The emergency fundraising package raised £11.8 billion, which came from investors and Qatari backers. The fund meant that the bank did not have to be partly nationalised.
Lloyds Bank repaid their full bailout loan in April 2017.
“We are now past the point where we have recovered the taxpayers’ investment. We still hold a small shareholding of between 1-2 percent but the taxpayer has now recovered every penny of its investment in Lloyds,” said Philip Hammond in regards to the loan.
“Recovering all of the money taxpayers injected into Lloyds marks a significant milestone in our plan to build an economy that works for everyone. While it was right to step in with support during the financial crisis, the government should not be in the business of owning banks in the long term.”
The SFO said on Monday that the first court date for the charge would be “set in due course”. A trial is set for 2019.