Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) will not face any criminal charges over its £11.8bn emergency fundraising during the financial crisis after the UK High Court on Friday denied the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) application to reinstate them.
Earlier this week it was reported that the SFO were pushing to reinstate the 2017 charges against Barclays that alleged the bank and four of its former executives conspired to commit fraud and the provision of unlawful financial assistance, connected to a deal with Qatar Holding and Challenger Universal in June and October 2008.
READ: SFO presses to have criminal charges reinstated against Barclays over financial crisis fundraising
The case against the bank was thrown out by the Crown Court in May this year, however, the SFO had asked the High Court to reinstate all dismissed charges.
This application has been denied by the High Court, Barclays said in a statement today, and, as a result, all of the charges remain dismissed.
The charges against former chief executive John Varley and three other Barclays executives remain live, however, with their trial due to start in January 2019.
In its statement, the bank noted that, as previously disclosed, an investigation by UK City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) into the advisory services agreements had been stayed due to the SFO proceedings.
It said the United States Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission have also been conducting investigations relating to these same agreements, with other authorities also kept informed of developments in the matter.
In addition, also as previously disclosed, it added that a civil claim has been served on Barclays Bank PLC by PCP Capital Partners LLP and PCP International Finance Limited in relation to the November 2008 capital raising, which the bank is defending.
READ: Barclays profits dragged lower by litigation and misconduct charges
The news comes in the wake of Barclays latest results, released on Wednesday, which saw the bank report a 9.5% drop in pre-tax profit for the first nine months of the year after taking a £2.15bn hit for misconduct and litigation.
Excluding litigation and conduct, however, Barclays pre-tax profit increased by 23% to £5.27bn, boosted by an improvement in credit impairment charges, recoveries in wholesale banking and portfolio adjustments that were affected by the new IFRS 9 accounting standards, and a reduction in operating expenses.