Barclays share price: Bank faces £1bn lawsuit over 2008 fundraising

Barclays (LON:BARC) is facing a lawsuit from Amanda Staveley, the deal-maker with a host of Middle Eastern connections, over the bank’s emergency fundraising in 2008.

Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners has sued Barclays in London, according to a court listing dated earlier this week. While it gave no details of the nature of the dispute, the lender confirmed that it related to its capital call at the height of the financial crisis. “We believe the claim against Barclays is misconceived and without merit and Barclays will be vigorously defending it,” the blue-chip bank said in a statement.

A spokesman for Staveley confirmed the existence of the claim but declined to put a figure on the total being sought by the financier and her firm. However, the Financial Times reported that Staveley was suing Barclays for almost £1 billion. Full details of the case are expected to be unveiled in official court documents in 14 days’ time.

Barclays turned to investors from Qatar and Abu Dhabi in October 2008 as financial markets roiled from Lehman Brothers’ historic bankruptcy. Staveley and PCP Capital Partners helped the bank raise £3.5 billion from Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. However, the fees related to the service are still due, according to the businesswoman.

Barclays is already facing a probe by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over its dealings with Qatar during the cash call, and was handed a £50 million fine by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over alleged misbehaviour during the fundraising, although Barclays disputed the penalty.

Barclays’s share price opened significantly higher this morning, mirroring a generally upbeat UK stock market trend. As of 08:34 GMT, the stock was changing hands at 181.55p, 1.77 percent up intraday. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 was 1.44 percent up at 5,999.50 points.
As of 09:12 GMT, Friday, 29 January, Barclays share price is 181.45p.