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A federal judge ended a two-year-old case against Barclays involving its dealings with sanctioned countries, closing one investigative chapter against the bank even as it faces multiple continuing inquires. In an order filed on Monday and entered into the docket on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan granted a request to dismiss charges the U.S. filed against the bank in August 2010. At the time, Barclays agreed to forfeit $ 298 million and enter a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve charges that it processed transactions for customers in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and other countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions. Under [...]

LONDON Barclays could ax as many as 3,500 investment bank staff and cut its advisory or equities operations in Asia as part of a broader strategic review aimed at fixing the bank’s culture in the wake of the financial crisis. The future shape and size of the investment bank is seen as the most critical part of Chief Executive Antony Jenkins’ review, as it contributes more than half of group profits but conducts the “casino” activities politicians and regulators are cracking down on. The British bank was fined $ 450 million in June for rigging Libor interest rates, which forced [...]

Some of Barclays’ biggest investors have urged new CEO to take an axe to its investment bankAt least three of the 30 biggest shareholders have told Antony Jenkins to follow the UBS example(Financial Times) — Some of Barclays’ biggest investors have urged Antony Jenkins, the bank’s new chief executive, to take an axe to its investment bank.At meetings with investors in recent weeks, at least three of the 30 biggest shareholders have told Mr Jenkins and other senior Barclays executives that the UK group should consider following the example of UBS of Switzerland, which last month signalled a dramatic retreat [...]

DUBAI/JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia – Barclays did not make any “illegal payment” to win a banking license in Saudi Arabia, the bank said in a statement in response to a newspaper report last week that said U.S. authorities were looking at whether improper payments were made. The Financial Times had reported on November 10 that the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) was investigating whether Barclays made any improper payments to win a banking license in Saudi Arabia to operate a wealth-management arm and investment bank, citing people familiar with the investigation. “The board of directors of Barclays Saudi Arabia and [...]

NEW YORK Barclays Bank Plc has won a dismissal of a U.S. lawsuit brought on behalf of creditors of energy transport and storage company SemGroup LP . The lawsuit had sought repayment of a $ 143 million fee that SemGroup paid the bank to take over its commodities trading positions before it filed for bankruptcy in 2008. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan issued an order on Friday granting Barclays’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Rakoff said he will give his reasons for dismissing the lawsuit in a later written opinion. Brandon Ashcraft, a spokesman for Barclays, declined to [...]

JEDDAH/LONDON Saudi Arabia’s market regulator said it was not aware of any investigation into a license it granted British bank Barclays three years ago, after a report that U.S. authorities are probing whether improper payments were made. The Department of Justice (DoJ) is investigating whether Barclays made any improper payment to win a banking license in Saudi Arabia to operate a wealth-management arm and investment bank, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the investigation. Barclays, which has had a torrid five months after being given a record fine by U.S. and UK regulators for rigging Libor [...]

NEW YORK British bank Barclays is set to fight a potentially record $ 470 million penalty from U.S. energy regulators by arguing its traders were guilty of braggadocio, not of rigging California electricity prices. The four traders in question, who boasted in emails and instant messages about how “fun” it was to “crap on” certain physical power prices, did not actually carry out the complex scheme they are accused of by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a source familiar with the bank’s thinking said. Last week, the country’s top cop overseeing electricity markets ordered Barclays to demonstrate why it should [...]

(Advisory: Contains language that may offend in paragraph seven) U.S. regulators threatened to fine Barclays roughly $ 470 million to settle allegations that the bank and four traders manipulated California electricity markets, reviving the specter of a sector-wide crackdown on energy trading. It could possibly be the biggest penalty ever levied by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and potentially exceeds the fine Barclays paid over the Libor bid-rigging scandal that cost Chief Executive Robert Diamond his job. The bank has 30 days to show why it should not be penalized for an alleged scheme of manipulating physical electricity prices [...]

(Advisory: Contains language that may offend in paragraph 7) U.S. regulators threatened to fine Barclays roughly $ 470 million to settle allegations that the bank and four traders manipulated California electricity markets, reviving the specter of a sector-wide crackdown on energy trading. It could possibly be the biggest penalty ever levied by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and potentially exceeds the fine Barclays paid over the Libor bid-rigging scandal that cost Chief Executive Robert Diamond his job. The bank has 30 days to show why it should not be penalized for an alleged scheme of manipulating physical electricity prices [...]