Barclays close to settling with the Serious Fraud Office over ‘bribes to Qatar’ claims
Barclays is moving closer to striking a deal with Britain’s fraud squad to settle allegations it paid bribes to Qatar to secure a bailout during the financial crisis, writes Peter Campbell.
The Serious Fraud Office wrote to the scandal-dogged lender earlier this month as part of an effort to bring its three year investigation into the bank to an end.
Barclays (up 2.3p at 283.15p) avoided a state bailout during the crash, unlike peers RBS and Lloyds, because it received £12billion from Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
At the time Barclays revealed that it paid £116million to advisory firm Qatar Holdings.
But it subsequently emerged that it had also paid £322million to another Qatari advisory firm.
The SFO launched a bribery investigation three years ago.
Now the SFO has begun a process that could lead to a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA), which would see Barclays accept guilt and pay a fine in return for having a potential prosecution delayed.
Under the deal it would also agree not to break any major rules for a period of time, or risk a full criminal case.
In a statement that did not fully deny the reports that it was moving towards a deal, a spokesman for Barclays said: ‘We are not in a position to comment on an ongoing legal matter, save to clarify that there has been no offer made of a DPA.’
The SFO refused to comment. Director David Green has previously said DPAs are ‘a welcome addition to the prosecutor’s tool kit’.
Source: ThisIsMoney – Barclays close to settling with the Serious Fraud Office over ‘bribes to Qatar’ claims
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