Barclay's Bank

pinno

Can someone please explain what that fiasco is all about?

Stevo_666

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40341611

pinno

So they gave money to Qatar Holdings for them to buy Barclay's shares to keep Barclay's share prices up and included a £330m sweetener.
Clever but dodgy.

slowmart

ten after the alledged crime they bring charges.

I wonder how much more bad news is priced into Barclays current share price.

rick_chasey

I don't imagine the timing is coincidental, given May had planned to shut the SFO down.

rick_chasey

Pinno wrote:

So they gave money to Qatar Holdings for them to buy Barclay's shares to keep Barclay's share prices up and included a £330m sweetener.
Clever but dodgy.

So the reasons it's hot stuff is because SFO are accusing the guys of being dishonest, which means it's a criminal charge and a much higher bar of proof to clear.

Otherwise it would have been a big fine from the FCA.

Is also unusual to charge a big bank for criminal activity.

pinno

As a criminal offence, I presume they can prosecute individuals.

rick_chasey

Yes those 4 have criminal charges against them.

surrey_commuter

Rick Chasey wrote:

Yes those 4 have criminal charges against them.

and facing lengthy jail time which means they won't want to settle which ties Barclays corporate hands

pinno

"Oh! What A Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice To Deceive"

rick_chasey

Again, my concern would be the timing of this.

It can't be coincidental that the SFO has been banging the drum loudly the past 2 months because of May's plans to shut them down, so I wonder if the case isn't as watertight as it could have been; perhaps it's been brought to a head sooner than ideal.

pinno

What was the reason for wanting to shut the SFO down?! To replace it with something else?

rick_chasey

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/201 ... es-attack/

Efficiency concerns, mainly.

Oh, and a footnote here: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mark ... a-May.html

The Conservatives have received a £50,000 donation from a Syrian-born businessman recently questioned by the Serious Fraud Office.
Ayman Asfari, 58, chief executive of oil services group Petrofac, made the donation this month. His wife Sawsan donated £50,000 to the Tories at the same time.
Asfari was quizzed by the SFO as part of a probe of Unaoil, a Monaco-based firm accused of corruptly securing contracts. Petrofac used Unaoil for consultancy work in Kazakhstan between 2002 and 2009.

TheBigBean

Rick Chasey wrote:

Pinno wrote:

So they gave money to Qatar Holdings for them to buy Barclay's shares to keep Barclay's share prices up and included a £330m sweetener.
Clever but dodgy.

So the reasons it's hot stuff is because SFO are accusing the guys of being dishonest, which means it's a criminal charge and a much higher bar of proof to clear.

Otherwise it would have been a big fine from the FCA.

Is also unusual to charge a big bank for criminal activity.

The FCA does bring criminal charges as well. I have been told that it leads all the complicated cases. This is the problem with the SFO - it is stuck between the police and the FCA, so I guess the argument is that it could be split in two.

That the FCA and SEC have favoured fines rather criminal prosecutions is a great shame. I have been told it is about efficiency, but the complete lack of prosecutions in the last recession is a bit too efficient for me.

pinno

From the link. I like this. Did the SFO boys get sidetracked? I wonder if one of them popped out to the corner shop to get some Corn Flakes and 6 litres of water at some point

"A further embarrassment was the SFO mislaying 32,000 pages of evidence in a 2008 case against BAE Systems, with the documents later being unearthed at a cannabis farm in London."

BelgianBeerGeek

Rick Chasey wrote:

Again, my concern would be the timing of this.

It can't be coincidental that the SFO has been banging the drum loudly the past 2 months because of May's plans to shut them down, so I wonder if the case isn't as watertight as it could have been; perhaps it's been brought to a head sooner than ideal.

Or another example of TM's pisspoor timing and lack of judgement?