LONDON – A London tribunal has ordered former Barclays (NYSE: BCS) CEO John Varley to give evidence in the British bank’s appeal against a $65 million (£50 million) fine related to its 2008 fundraising with Qatar.
In a decision published on Wednesday, Upper Tribunal judges Rupert Jones and Jonathan Cannan dismissed arguments that it would be unfair or oppressive to force the retired executive to re-visit events of 16 years ago when a three-week appeal kicks off on Nov. 25.
“We have reached the firm conclusion that Mr. Varley should be required to give evidence at the final hearing of these references,” they said.
The appeal turns the spotlight onto Barclays’ credit-crisis era fundraising five years after senior judges said there was insufficient evidence against Varley and he was acquitted of fraud charges. Three top executives were cleared in 2020.
But the regulatory case is back in court after being placed on hold pending the criminal proceedings.
The Financial Conduct Authority fined Barclays (NYSE: BCS) in 2013 over the bank’s communications to the market during two capital raisings in June and October 2008, when the bank avoided a state bailout during the credit crisis by securing 11 billion pounds from Gulf investors.
The bank also struck “advisory service agreements” (ASAs) with Qatar worth 322 million pounds, which were not fully disclosed to the market.
The FCA alleges Varley, who had faced a 1-million-pound fine and ban before the regulator discontinued proceedings against him, “recklessly” approved an announcement and documents related to the October fundraising without ensuring they were not misleading, false or deceptive.
The FCA also wants to establish that Varley had previously given “untruthful and evasive accounts”, including a statement in an interview that the ASAs and capital raisings were unconnected, the tribunal decision showed.
A lawyer for Varley told a hearing in June that regulatory, criminal, and civil proceedings had taken a heavy toll on Varley’s personal and professional life, that his evidence would not be crucial, and that the passage of time rendered his testimony of limited use, the ruling showed.
A lawyer for Varley did not respond to a request for further comment.
Barclays (NYSE: BCS) says the bank and Varley acted on the advice of lawyers, denies any breach of rules, and dismisses allegations that Varley acted recklessly or was aware of any risk the bank had not taken reasonable care of.
($1 = 0.7736 pounds)
(Source: ReutersReuters)
