Barclays () is a British multinational
universal bank
A universal bank participates in many kinds of banking activities and is both a commercial bank and an investment bank as well as providing other financial services such as insurance.London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services.
Barclays traces its origins to the
goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...
banking business established in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
in 1690.
James Barclay became a partner in the business in 1736. In 1896, twelve banks in London and the English provinces, including
Goslings Bank
Goslings Bank was a historical English private bank, located since at least 1743 at No. 19 Fleet Street, London, and identified to customers by a hanging signboard depicting three squirrels.
History
The bank originated in the business of Henry ...
,
Backhouse's Bank Backhouse's Bank of Darlington (James & Jonathan Backhouse and Co., from 1798 Jonathan Backhouse and Co.) was founded in 1774 by James Backhouse (1720-1798), a wealthy Quaker flax dresser and linen manufacturer, and his sons Jonathan (1747-1826) and ...
and
Gurney, Peckover and Company, united as a
joint-stock
A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...
bank under the name Barclays and Co. Over the following decades, Barclays expanded to become a nationwide bank. In 1967, Barclays deployed the world's first
cash dispenser. Barclays has made numerous corporate acquisitions, including of London, Provincial and South Western Bank in 1918,
British Linen Bank
The British Linen Bank was a commercial bank based in the United Kingdom. It was acquired by the Bank of Scotland in 1969 and served as the establishment's merchant bank arm from 1977 until 1999.
History Foundation
The Edinburgh-based Britis ...
in 1919, Mercantile Credit in 1975,
the Woolwich
The Woolwich Equitable Building Society (later Woolwich Building Society or The Woolwich) was founded in Woolwich in 1847 and remained a local institution until after WWI when it began a modest regional expansion. This accelerated after WWII an ...
in 2000 and the North American operations of
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, a ...
in 2008.
Barclays has a primary listing on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...
. It has a secondary listing on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
. It is considered a
systemically important bank
A systemically important financial institution (SIFI) is a bank, insurance company, or other financial institution whose failure might trigger a financial crisis. They are colloquially referred to as "too big to fail".
As the financial crisis o ...
by the
Financial Stability Board
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established after the G20 London summit in April 2009 as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum ...
. According to a 2011 paper, Barclays was the most powerful
transnational corporation
A transnational corporation is an enterprise that is involved with the international production of goods or services, foreign investments, or income and asset management in more than one country. It sets up factories in developing countries as land ...
in terms of ownership and thus
corporate control over
global financial stability and
market competition
In economics, competition is a scenario where different Economic agent, economic firmsThis article follows the general economic convention of referring to all actors as firms; examples in include individuals and brands or divisions within the sa ...
, with
Axa
Axa S.A. (styled as ''AXA'' or GIG in the Middle East) is a French multinational insurance company. The head office is in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. It also provides investment management and other financial services.
The Ax ...
and
State Street Corporation
State Street Corporation is an American financial services and bank holding company headquartered at One Lincoln Street in Boston with operations worldwide. It is the second-oldest continually operating United States bank; its predecessor, Un ...
taking the 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively. Barclays operates in over 40 countries, employs over 80,000 people and is the fifth largest bank in Europe by total assets.
Barclays is Europe's largest funder of fossil fuel companies.
Barclays UK comprises the British retail banking operations, consumer credit card business, wealth management business, and corporate banking for small, medium and large-sized businesses in the UK. Barclays International consists of Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank (formerly known as Barclays Capital) and the Consumer, Cards & Payments business. The
investment banking
Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...
business provides advisory, financing and
risk management services to large companies, institutions and government clients. It is a
primary dealer
A primary dealer is a firm that buys government securities directly from a government, with the intention of reselling them to others, thus acting as a market maker of government securities. The government may regulate the behaviour and number of ...
in
Gilts
Gilt-edged securities are bonds issued by the UK Government. The term is of British origin, and then referred to the debt securities issued by the Bank of England on behalf of His Majesty's Treasury, whose paper certificates had a gilt (or gilde ...
,
U.S. Treasury securities and various European
Government bond
A government bond or sovereign bond is a form of bond issued by a government to support public spending. It generally includes a commitment to pay periodic interest, called coupon payments'','' and to repay the face value on the maturity date ...
s.
Name
The name of the bank has never been spelled with an apostrophe (Barclay's), it being first registered in 1896 as 'Barclay and Company, Limited', which was changed to 'Barclays Bank Limited' in 1917, and to 'Barclays Bank PLC' in 1982.
History
1690 to 1900
Barclays traces its origins back to 17 November 1690, when
John Freame
John Freame (1669–1745) was an English goldsmith and banker. In 1690 he co-founded Freame & Gould, which later became Barclays Bank.
Early life
John, son of Robert Freame, was born in 1669 in Cirencester, England, and baptised on 11 November ...
, a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
, and Thomas Gould, started trading as
goldsmith banker
A goldsmith banker was a business role that emerged in seventeenth century London from the London goldsmiths where they gradually expanded their services to include storage of wealth, providing loans, transferring money and providing bills of exch ...
s in
Lombard Street, London
Lombard Street () is a street notable for its connections with the City of London's merchant, banking and insurance industries, stretching back to medieval times.
From Bank junction, where nine streets converge by the Bank of England, Lombard ...
. The name "Barclays" became associated with the business in 1736, when Freame's son-in-law James Barclay became a partner. In 1728, the bank moved to 54 Lombard Street, identified by the 'Sign of the Black Spread
Eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
', which in subsequent years would become a core part of the bank's visual identity.
The Barclay family were connected with slavery, both as proponents and opponents. David and Alexander Barclay were engaged in the slave trade in 1756.
David Barclay of Youngsbury
David Barclay of Youngsbury (1729–1809), also known as David Barclay of Walthamstow or David Barclay of Walthamstow and Youngsbury, was an English Quaker merchant, banker, and philanthropist. He is notable for an experiment in "gratuitous ma ...
(1729–1809), on the other hand, was a noted
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
, and
Verene Shepherd
Verene Albertha Shepherd (née Lazarus; born 1951) is a Jamaican academic who is a professor of social history at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, Mona. She is the director of the university's Institute for Gender and Developm ...
, the
Jamaican historian of
diaspora studies
Diaspora studies is an academic field established in the late 20th century to study dispersed ethnic populations, which are often termed diaspora peoples. The usage of the term diaspora carries the connotation of forced resettlement, due to e ...
, singles out the case of how he chose to
free his slaves in
that colony.
In 1776, the firm was styled "Barclay, Bevan and Bening" and remained so until 1785, when another partner, John Tritton, who had married a Barclay, was admitted, and the business then became "Barclay, Bevan, Bening and Tritton". In 1896, twelve houses in London and the English provinces, notably
Goslings and Sharpe,
Backhouse's Bank Backhouse's Bank of Darlington (James & Jonathan Backhouse and Co., from 1798 Jonathan Backhouse and Co.) was founded in 1774 by James Backhouse (1720-1798), a wealthy Quaker flax dresser and linen manufacturer, and his sons Jonathan (1747-1826) and ...
of
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
and
Gurney's Bank
Gurney's bank was a family-run bank founded by members of the Gurney family in 1770 and headquartered in Norwich, England. It merged into Barclays Bank in 1896.
History
The bank was founded in 1770 by John and Henry Gurney, sons of John Gurney ( ...
of
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
(the latter two of which also had their roots in Quaker families), united to form Barclays and Co., a
joint-stock
A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...
bank, which at its formation held around one quarter of deposits in English private banks.
1900 to 1945
![1 Crossroads Sutton Surrey London](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/1_Crossroads_Sutton_Surrey_London.JPG)
Between 1905 and 1916, Barclays extended its branch network by making acquisitions of small English banks. Further expansion followed in 1918 when Barclays amalgamated with the
London, Provincial and South Western Bank
The London and Provincial Bank, originally known as the Provincial Banking Corporation, was established in 1864.
It took over Day, Nicholson and Stone in 1864, and the Bank of Wales in 1865. It was reorganised in 1870 and became the London and P ...
, and in 1919, when the
British Linen Bank
The British Linen Bank was a commercial bank based in the United Kingdom. It was acquired by the Bank of Scotland in 1969 and served as the establishment's merchant bank arm from 1977 until 1999.
History Foundation
The Edinburgh-based Britis ...
was acquired by Barclays, although the British Linen Bank retained a separate board of directors and continued to issue its own banknotes (see
Banknotes of the pound sterling
Sterling banknotes are the banknotes in circulation in the United Kingdom and its related territories, denominated in pound sterling, pounds sterling (symbol: Pound sign, £; ISO 4217 currency code: GBP; traditional abbreviation: Stg.).
Sterli ...
).
In 1925, the
Colonial Bank,
National Bank of South Africa
First National Bank (FNB; af, Eerste Nasionale Bank (ENB)) is one of South Africa's " big four" banks. It is a division of FirstRand, a large financial services conglomerate, which trades on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE), under th ...
and the
Anglo-Egyptian Bank
The Anglo-Egyptian Bank was a British overseas bank established in 1864.
History
The founding banks were Agra and Masterman's Bank, La Compagnie Financière Maurice de Cattauï and the General Credit and Finance Co., and the bank incorporated P ...
were amalgamated and Barclays operated its overseas operations under the name Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas)—Barclays DCO.
[ In 1938, Barclays acquired the first Indian exchange bank, the Central Exchange Bank of India, which had opened in London in 1936 with the sponsorship of ]Central Bank of India
Central Bank of India (CBI) is an Indian public sector bank based in Mumbai. Despite its name, it is not the central bank of India; The Indian central bank is the Reserve Bank of India.
History
The Central Bank of India was established on ...
.
In 1941, during the German occupation of France
The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
, a branch of Barclays in Paris, headed by Marcel Cheradame, worked directly with the invading force. Senior officials at the bank volunteered the names of Jewish employees, as well as ceding an estimated one hundred Jewish bank accounts to the German occupiers. The Paris branch used its funds to increase the operational power of a large quarry that helped produce steel for the Germans. There was no evidence of contact between the head office in London and the branch in Paris during the occupation. Marcel Cheradame was kept as the branch manager until he retired in the sixties.[
]
1946 to 1980
In May 1958, Barclays was the first UK bank to appoint a female bank manager. Hilda Harding managed Barclays' Hanover Square branch in London until her retirement in 1970.
In 1965, Barclays established a US affiliate, Barclays Bank of California, in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
.
Barclays launched the first credit card in the UK, Barclaycard
Barclaycard (; stylized as barclaycard) is a brand for credit cards of Barclays PLC. , Barclays had over ten million customers in the United Kingdom.
History
Barclays launched Barclaycard on 29 June 1966, initially as a charge card, but followin ...
, in 1966. On 27 June 1967, Barclays deployed the world's first cash machine
An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fun ...
, in Enfield
Enfield may refer to:
Places Australia
* Enfield, New South Wales
* Enfield, South Australia
** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb
** Enfield High School (South Australia)
...
. The British actor Reg Varney
Reginald Alfred Varney (11 July 1916 – 16 November 2008) was an English actor, entertainer and comedian. He is best remembered for having played the lead role of bus driver Stan Butler in the LWT sitcom ''On the Buses'' (1969–73) and its th ...
was the first person to use the machine.[
In 1969, a planned merger with ]Martins Bank
Martins Bank was a London private bank, trading for much of its time under the symbol of “The Grasshopper”, that could trace its origins back to the London goldsmiths. Martins agreed to its acquisition by the Bank of Liverpool in 1918. The Ba ...
and Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...
was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission
The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under UK competition law, competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competiti ...
, but the acquisition of Martins Bank
Martins Bank was a London private bank, trading for much of its time under the symbol of “The Grasshopper”, that could trace its origins back to the London goldsmiths. Martins agreed to its acquisition by the Bank of Liverpool in 1918. The Ba ...
on its own was later permitted. Also that year, the British Linen Bank
The British Linen Bank was a commercial bank based in the United Kingdom. It was acquired by the Bank of Scotland in 1969 and served as the establishment's merchant bank arm from 1977 until 1999.
History Foundation
The Edinburgh-based Britis ...
subsidiary was sold to the Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...
in exchange for a 25% stake, a transaction that became effective from 1971. Barclays DCO changed its name to Barclays Bank International in 1971.
From 1972 until 1980, a minority stake in Banca Barclays Castellini SpA, Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
was owned by the Castellini family. In 1980, Barclays Bank International acquired the remaining stake in Barclays Castellini from the Castellini family.
In August 1975, following the secondary banking crash, Barclays acquired Mercantile Credit Company.
1980 to 2000
Barclays Bank International expanded its business in 1980 to include commercial credit and took over American Credit Corporation, renaming it Barclays American Corporation.
During 1985 Barclays Bank and Barclays Bank International merged,[MJ Larson, G Schnyder, G Westerhaus, J Wilson (2013) ]
p.53
in (Andrea Colli, Abe De Jong, Martin Jes Iversen editors
Mapping European Corporations: Strategy, Structure, Ownership and Performance
published by Routledge
Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...
, 13 September 2013 , - accessed 14 February 2020 and as part of the corporate reorganisation the former Barclays Bank plc became a group holding company,[ renamed Barclays Group Plc,][ and UK retail banking was integrated under the former BBI, and renamed ''Barclays Bank PLC'' from ''Barclays Bank Limited''.][
In response to the ]Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...
on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
, in 1986 Barclays bought UK stockbroker
A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...
de Zoete & Bevan and jobbing firm Wedd Durlacher (formerly Wedd Jefferson). They were merged with Barclays Merchant Bank to form Barclays de Zoete Wedd (BZW). Also that year Barclays sold its South African business operating under the Barclays National Bank name after protests against Barclays' involvement in South Africa and its apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
government.
Barclays introduced the ''Connect'' card in June 1987, the first debit card
A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The term '' plastic card'' includes the above and as an identity document. These are similar to a credit card, but u ...
in the United Kingdom.
In 1988, Barclays sold Barclays Bank of California, which at that time was the 17th-largest bank in California measured by assets, to Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
for US$125 million in cash.
Edgar Pearce
Edgar Eugene Pearce (born 1937–38) is a British extortionist and bomber who was convicted of the Mardi Gra bombings, a three-year blackmail and terror campaign in the London area between December 1994 and April 1998.
Early life
Pearce grew up ...
, the "Mardi Gra Bomber", began a terror campaign against the bank and the supermarket chain Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...
in 1994.
Barclays bought Wells Fargo Nikko Investment Advisors (WFNIA) in 1996 and merged it with BZW Investment Management to form Barclays Global Investors
BlackRock, Inc. is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with trill ...
. Bob Diamond took charge of the investment banking businesses that year.
Two years later, in 1998, the BZW business was broken up and the Equity and Corporate Finance Divisions were sold to Credit Suisse First Boston
Credit Suisse First Boston (also known as CSFB and CS First Boston) is the investment banking affiliate of Credit Suisse headquartered in New York.
The company was created by the merger of First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse Group in 1988 ...
: Barclays retained the debt-focused Fixed Income business and Structured Capital Markets which formed the foundation of the rebranded Barclays Capital (BarCap). Barclays Capital had offices in over 29 countries and employed over 20,000 people, with over 7,000 people working in its IT division.
In 1998, Barclays Bank agreed to pay $3.6m to Jews whose assets were seized from French branches of the British-based bank during World War II. Barclays, along with seven French banks, was named in a lawsuit filed in New York on behalf of Jews who were unable to reclaim money they deposited during the Nazi era.
In an unusual move as part of the trend at the time for free ISP
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...
s, Barclays launched an internet service in 1999 called Barclays.net. This entity was acquired by British Telecom
BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...
in 2001.
In the 1990s, Barclays helped to fund President Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...
's government in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
. The most controversial of a set of loans provided by Barclays was the £30 million it gave to help sustain land reforms that saw Mugabe seize white-owned farmland and drive more than 100,000 black workers from their homes. Opponents have called the bank's involvement a 'disgrace' and an 'insult' to the millions who have suffered human rights abuses. A Barclays spokesman said the bank has had customers in Zimbabwe for decades and abandoning them now would make matters worse, "We are committed to continuing to provide a service to those customers in what is clearly a difficult operating environment". Barclays also provided two of Mugabe's associates with bank accounts, ignoring European Union sanctions on Zimbabwe. The men are Elliot Manyika and minister of public service Nicholas Goche. Barclays has defended its position by insisting that the EU rules do not apply to its 67%-owned Zimbabwean subsidiary because it was incorporated outside the EU.
In August 2000, Barclays took over the recently de-mutualised Woolwich PLC, formerly the Woolwich
The Woolwich Equitable Building Society (later Woolwich Building Society or The Woolwich) was founded in Woolwich in 1847 and remained a local institution until after WWI when it began a modest regional expansion. This accelerated after WWII an ...
Building Society, in a £5.4 billion acquisition. Woolwich thus joined the Barclays group of companies, and the Woolwich name was retained after the acquisition. The company's head office remained in Bexleyheath
Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011.
Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...
, south-east London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, from the original head office in Woolwich
Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...
.
Barclays closed 171 branches in the UK in 2001, many of them in rural communities: Barclays called itself "The Big Bank" but this name was quickly given a low profile after a series of embarrassing PR stunts.
On 31 October 2001, Barclays and CIBC
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; french: Banque canadienne impériale de commerce) is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontario. T ...
agreed to combine their Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
operations to establish a joint venture company known as FirstCaribbean International Bank
CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) is a financial services company based in Barbados and the Caribbean subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). The bank was founded in 2002 as FirstCaribbean International Bank t ...
(FCIB).
In 2003, Barclays bought the American credit card company Juniper Bank from CIBC
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; french: Banque canadienne impériale de commerce) is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontario. T ...
, re-branding it as "Barclays Bank Delaware". The same year saw the acquisition of Banco Zaragozano, the 11th-largest Spanish bank.
Barclays took over sponsorship of the Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
from Barclaycard
Barclaycard (; stylized as barclaycard) is a brand for credit cards of Barclays PLC. , Barclays had over ten million customers in the United Kingdom.
History
Barclays launched Barclaycard on 29 June 1966, initially as a charge card, but followin ...
in 2004. In May 2005, Barclays moved its group headquarters from Lombard Street in the City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
to One Churchill Place in Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lo ...
. Also in 2005 Barclays sealed a £2.6bn takeover of Absa Group Limited
Absa Group Limited (ABGL; formerly Barclays Africa Group Limited), and originally Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, is a South African-based financial services group, offering personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and invest ...
, South Africa's largest retail bank, acquiring a 54% stake on 27 July 2005.
Then in 2006, Barclays purchased the HomEq Servicing Corporation for US$469 million in cash from Wachovia
Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asset ...
Corp. That year also saw the acquisition of the financial website CompareTheLoan and Barclays announcing plans to rebrand Woolwich branches as Barclays, migrating Woolwich customers onto Barclays accounts and migrating back-office processes onto Barclays systems—the Woolwich brand was to be used for Barclays mortgages. Barclays also exited retail-banking operations in the Caribbean-region which extended as far back as 1837 through selling of its joint venture stake in FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) to CIBC for between $989 million and $1.08 billion.
Abandoned merger with ABN AMRO
In March 2007, Barclays announced plans to merge with ABN AMRO
ABN or abn may refer to:
Companies
* ABN AMRO Group, a Dutch bank group
* ABN AMRO, sometimes referred to as "ABN" in shorthand, is a Dutch state-owned bank
* Algemene Bank Nederland, a now-defunct Dutch bank
Radio, news and television organizat ...
, the largest bank in the Netherlands. However, on 5 October 2007 Barclays announced that it had abandoned its bid, citing inadequate support by ABN shareholders. Fewer than 80% of shares had been tendered to Barclays' cash-and-shares offer. This left the consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...
free to proceed with its counter-bid for ABN AMRO.
To help finance its bid for ABN AMRO, Barclays sold a 3.1% stake to China Development Bank and a 3% stake to Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, or simply Temasek, is a Singaporean state holding company owned by the Government of Singapore. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek owns and manages a total of US$496.59 billion (S$671 billion) in assets u ...
, the investment arm of the Singaporean government.
Also in 2007, Barclays agreed to purchase Equifirst Corporation from Regions Financial Corporation for US$225 million. That year also saw Barclays Personal Investment Management announcing the closure of their operation in Peterborough and its re-siting to Glasgow, laying off nearly 900 members of staff.
Financing
On 30 August 2007, Barclays was forced to borrow £1.6 billion (US$3.2 billion) from the Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...
sterling standby facility. This is made available as a last-resort when banks are unable to settle their debts to other banks at the end of daily trading. Despite rumours about liquidity at Barclays, the loan was necessary due to a technical problem with their computerised settlement network. A Barclays spokesman was quoted as saying "There are no liquidity issues in the U.K markets. Barclays itself is flush with liquidity."
On 9 November 2007, Barclays shares dropped 9% and were even temporarily suspended for a short period of time, due to rumours of a £4.8 billion (US$10 billion) exposure to bad debts in the US. However, a Barclays spokesman denied the rumours.
In February 2008, Barclays bought the credit card brand Goldfish for US$70 million gaining 1.7 million customers, and US$3.9 billion in receivables. Barclays also bought a controlling stake in the Russian retail bank Expobank for US$745 million. Later in the year Barclays commenced its Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
operations with initial funding of US$100 million.
Barclays sought to raise capital privately, avoiding direct equity investment from the UK government, which was offered to boost its capital ratio. Barclays believed that "maintaining its independence from government was in the best interests of its shareholders".
In July 2008, Barclays attempted to raise £4.5 billion through a non-traditional rights issue to shore up its weakened Tier 1 capital ratio
Tier 1 capital is the core measure of a bank's financial strength from a regulator's point of view.By definition of Bank for International Settlements. It is composed of ''core capital'', which consists primarily of common stock and disclosed res ...
, which involved a rights offer to existing shareholders and the sale of a stake to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
is a Japanese multinational banking and financial services institution headquartered in Yurakucho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The group operates in retail, corporate, and investment banking segment worldwide. It provides financial products and ser ...
. Only 19% of shareholders took up their rights leaving investors China Development Bank and Qatar Investment Authority
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ar, جهاز قطر للإستثمار) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In 202 ...
with increased holdings in the bank.
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
reported in October 2008 that the British government
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would inject £40 billion (US$69 billion) into three banks including Barclays, which might seek over £7 billion. Barclays later confirmed that it rejected the Government's offer and would instead raise £6.5 billion of new capital (£2 billion by cancellation of dividend and £4.5 billion from private investors).[
Barclays launched a further round of capital raising, approved by special resolution on 24 November 2008, as part of its overall plan to achieve higher capital targets set by the UK's ]Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the financial regulation, regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investmen ...
to ensure it would remain independent. Barclays raised £7 billion from investors from Abu Dhabi and Qatar. Existing Barclays shareholders complained they were not offered full pre-emption rights in this round of capital raising, even threatening to revolt at the extraordinary meeting. Sheikh Mansour and Qatar Holding agreed to open up £500 million of their new holdings of reserve capital instruments for clawback
The term clawback or claw back refers to any money or benefits that have been given out, but are required to be returned (clawed back) due to special circumstances or events, such as the monies having been received as the result of a financial crim ...
. Existing investors now took this up.
Lehman Brothers acquisition
Bob Diamond led the effort to purchase the North American business of Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, a ...
after its bankruptcy in September 2008, securing Barclays a presence in U.S. Equities and Investment Banking. On 16 September 2008, Barclays announced its agreement to purchase, subject to regulatory approval, the investment-banking and trading divisions of Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, a ...
(including its New York skyscraper) which was a United States financial conglomerate that had filed for bankruptcy.
On 20 September 2008, a revised version of the deal, a US$1.35 billion (£700 million) plan for Barclays to acquire the core business of Lehman Brothers (mainly Lehman's US$960 million Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
office skyscraper, with responsibility for 9,000 former employees), was approved. After a seven-hour hearing, New York bankruptcy court
United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. The current system of bankruptcy courts was created by the United States Congress in 1978, effective April 1, 1984. United States bankruptcy c ...
Judge James Peck ruled:
Luc Despins, the creditors committee counsel, said: "The reason we're not objecting is really based on the lack of a viable alternative. We did not support the transaction because there had not been enough time to properly review it." In the amended agreement, Barclays would absorb US$47.4 billion in securities and assume US$45.5 billion in trading liabilities. Lehman's attorney Harvey R. Miller
Harvey Robert Miller (March 1, 1933 – April 27, 2015) was an American lawyer. The ''New York Times'' called him "the most prominent bankruptcy lawyer in the nation." Born in New York City, Miller graduated from Brooklyn College (A.B., 1954) an ...
of Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is an American international law firm with approximately 1,100 attorneys, headquartered in New York City. With a gross annual revenue in excess of $1.8 billion, it is among the world's largest law firms according to ...
, said "the purchase price for the real estate components of the deal would be US$1.29 billion, including US$960 million for Lehman's New York headquarters and US$330 million for two New Jersey data centres. Lehman's original estimate valued its headquarters at US$1.02 billion but an appraisal from CB Richard Ellis this week valued it at US$900 million." Further, Barclays will not acquire Lehman's Eagle Energy unit, but will have entities known as Lehman Brothers Canada Inc, Lehman Brothers Sudamerica, Lehman Brothers Uruguay and its Private Investment Management business for high-net-worth individuals. Finally, Lehman will retain US$20 billion of securities assets in Lehman Brothers Inc that are not being transferred to Barclays. Barclays had a potential liability of US$2.5 billion to be paid as severance
Severance may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Severance'' (film), a 2006 British horror film
* ''Severance'' (novel), a 2018 novel by Ling Ma
*''Severance'', a 2006 short-story collection by Robert Olen Butler
* ''Severance'' (TV series), a ...
, if it chooses not to retain some Lehman employees beyond the guaranteed 90 days.
In September 2014, Barclays was ordered to pay $15 million in settlement charges that alleged the bank had failed to maintain an adequate internal compliance system after its acquisition of Lehman Brothers during the 2008 financial crisis.
Qatar capital raising
In January 2009, the press reported that further capital may be required and that while the government might be willing to fund this, it may be unable to do so because the previous capital investment from the Qatari state was subject to a proviso that no third party might put in further money without the Qataris receiving compensation at the value the shares had commanded in October 2008. In March 2009, it was reported that in 2008, Barclays received billions of dollars from its insurance arrangements with AIG
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. , AIG companies employed 49,600 people.https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig/amer ...
, including US$8.5 billion from funds provided by the United States to bail out AIG.
Barclays' share price fell 54% in June 2009 after the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), which had invested up to £4.75 billion in November 2008, sold 1.3 billion Barclays shares.
Qatar Holding
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ar, جهاز قطر للإستثمار) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In 2021 ...
sold a 3.5% stake worth £10 billion in October 2009, and a further sale of warrants worth around £750 million in November 2012, but remains one of the bank's largest shareholders. In July 2012, Barclays revealed that the FSA was investigating whether the bank adequately disclosed fees paid to Qatar Investment Authority
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ar, جهاز قطر للإستثمار) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In 202 ...
. In August 2012, the Serious Fraud Office announced an investigation into the Middle East capital raising. The Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the financial regulation, regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investmen ...
announced an expansion of the investigation into the Barclays-Qatar deal in January 2013, focusing on the disclosure surrounding the ownership of the securities in the bank.
Barclays' June and November 2008 capital raisings are the subject of investigations.
The UK's Serious Fraud Office commenced its investigation in August 2012. In October 2012, the United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
and the US Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
informed Barclays they had commenced an investigation into whether the group's relationships with third parties who assist Barclays to win or retain business are compliant with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests.
The FCPA is applicable world ...
.
Barclays had sought to raise capital privately, avoiding direct equity investment from the Government of the United Kingdom
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and, therefore, a bailout. The result was Abu Dhabi's £3.5 billion investment in the bank, a deal in which Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, منصور بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; born 21 November 1970), often referred to as Sheikh Mansour, is an Emirati politician who is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab ...
made a profit of £3.5 billion.
Much of the focus to date has been on the injections by Qatar in June and November 2008, notably the so far unproven allegation that Barclays lent Qatar the money to invest in the bank. Other questions include what happened to the £110 million in fees paid by Barclays ostensibly to Sheikh Mansour, and the £66 million provided by Barclays to the Qataris for unexplained "advisory fees".
In June 2017, following a five-year investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office covering Barclays' activities during the financial crisis of 2007–2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
, former CEO John Varley and three former colleagues, Roger Jenkins, Thomas Kalaris
Thomas Llewellyn Kalaris (born November 1955) is a British banker, the former chief executive of Barclays wealth and investment management.
Early life
Kalaris has a bachelor's degree from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and an MBA fr ...
and Richard Boath, were charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and the provision of unlawful financial assistance Financial assistance in law refers to assistance given by a company for the purchase of its own shares or the shares of its holding companies. In many jurisdictions such assistance is prohibited or restricted by law. For example, all EU member s ...
in connection with capital raising. The executives were cleared in February 2020.
In February 2018, the Serious Fraud Office charged Barclays with "unlawful financial assistance" related to billions of pounds raised from the Qatar deal.
On 8 June 2020, Barclays was also accused of deceit by a British businesswoman Amanda Staveley
Amanda Louise Staveley (born 11 April 1973) is a British business executive. She is notable chiefly for her connections with Middle Eastern investors. She helped a Saudi consortium take over Newcastle United in a deal completed in October 2021 ...
's firm PCP Capital. The company sued the bank in a £1.5 billion lawsuit, claiming that it had "deliberately misled" the market over the terms of its capital raising deal with Qatar. PCP alleged that Qatar Holdings
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ar, جهاز قطر للإستثمار) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In 2021 ...
was offered a "completely different" deal than that offered to Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, منصور بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; born 21 November 1970), often referred to as Sheikh Mansour, is an Emirati politician who is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab ...
of Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
, who according to Amanda Staveley was introduced to Barclays by PCP. However, during the hearing in the High Court of London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, the Barclays lawyer, Jeffery Onions accused Staveley of "significantly exaggerating" her business relationship with the Abu Dhabi sheikh and of creating a "hustle" by getting involved in a crucial capital raising. Staveley and PCP Capital subsequently reduced the amount of their claim but lost the case in the High Court.
Accusations of money laundering
In March 2009, Barclays was accused of violating international anti-money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
laws. According to the NGO Global Witness
Global Witness is an international NGO established in 1993 that works to break the links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses worldwide. The organisation has offices in London and Washin ...
, the Paris branch of Barclays held the account of Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (; born 5 June 1942) is an Equatoguinean politician and former military officer who has served as the second president of Equatorial Guinea since August 1979. He is the longest-serving president of any country ev ...
's son, Teodorin Obiang
Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue (born 25 June 1968, nicknamed Teodorín) is the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, in office since 2016. He is a son of Teodoro Obiang, the authoritarian leader of Equatorial Guinea, by his first wife, Constancia M ...
, even after evidence that Obiang had siphoned oil revenues from government funds emerged in 2004. According to Global Witness, Obiang purchased a Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
and maintains a mansion in Malibu with the funds from this account.
A 2010 report by the Wall Street Journal described how Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...
, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Banking Group is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds Ban ...
, and other banks were involved in helping the Alavi Foundation, Bank Melli, the Iranian government, and/or others circumvent US laws banning financial transactions with certain states. They did this by 'stripping' information out of wire transfers, thereby concealing the source of funds. Barclays settled with the government for US$298 million.
Tax avoidance
In March 2009, Barclays obtained an injunction against ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' requiring it to remove from its website confidential leaked documents describing how SCM, Barclays' structured capital markets division, planned to use more than £11 billion of loans to create hundreds of millions of pounds of tax benefits, via "an elaborate circuit of Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...
companies, US partnerships and Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
subsidiaries". In an editorial on the issue, ''The Guardian'' pointed out that, due to the mismatch of resources, tax-collectors (HMRC
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) now have to rely on websites such as WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
to obtain such documents, and indeed the documents in question have now appeared on WikiLeaks. Separately, another Barclays whistleblower
A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
revealed several days later that the SCM transactions had produced between £900 million and £1 billion in tax avoidance in one year, adding that "The deals start with tax and then commercial purpose is added to them."
In February 2012, Barclays was ordered by the Treasury to pay £500 million in tax which it had tried to avoid. Barclays was accused by HMRC
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of designing two schemes that were intended to avoid substantial amounts of tax. Tax rules had required the bank to tell the UK authorities about its plans. David Gauke
David Michael Gauke (; born 8 October 1971) is a British political commentator, solicitor and former politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Hertfordshire from 2005 to 2019. He served in the Cabinet under Theresa May, ...
, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, ranked below the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster General and the Fina ...
, said that "We do not take today's action lightly, but the potential tax loss from this scheme and the history of previous abuse in this area mean that this is a circumstance where the decision to change the law with full retrospective effect is justified."
Rate-fixing scandal
In June 2012, as a result of an international investigation, Barclays Bank was fined a total of £290 million (US$450 million) for manipulating the daily settings of London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor
The London Inter-Bank Offered Rate is an interest-rate average calculated from estimates submitted by the leading banks in London. Each bank estimates what it would be charged were it to borrow from other banks. The resulting average rate is u ...
) and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor
The Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) is a daily reference rate, published by the European Money Markets Institute, based on the averaged interest rates at which Eurozone banks offer to lend unsecured funds to other banks in the euro whole ...
). The United States Department of Justice and Barclays officially agreed that "the manipulation of the submissions affected the fixed rates on some occasions". The bank was found to have made 'inappropriate submissions' of rates which formed part of the Libor and Euribor setting processes, sometimes to make a profit, and other times to make the bank look more secure during the financial crisis.[ This happened between 2005 and 2009, as often as daily.][
The ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
said revelations concerning the fraud were "greeted with almost universal astonishment in the banking industry." The UK's
(FSA), which levied a fine of £59.5 million ($92.7 million), gave Barclays the biggest fine it had ever imposed in its history.
The FSA's director of enforcement described Barclays' behaviour as "completely unacceptable", adding "Libor is an incredibly important benchmark reference rate, and it is relied on for many, many hundreds of thousands of contracts all over the world."