Barclays faces a criminal probe into fees it paid in 2008 to Qatar's sovereign wealth fund as the bank sought to raise money to avoid a government bailout.
The British Serious Fraud Office, which prosecutes bribery and white-collar crime, told the London-based bank it had "commenced an investigation into payments under certain commercial agreements between Barclays and Qatar Holding", the lender said yesterday.
The investigation is another legal pitfall for Britain's second-biggest lender by assets after it paid United States and British authorities a record £290 million (HK$3.56 billion) in June for manipulating the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, and related interest benchmarks. The case led to the resignations of three top Barclays executives, including chief executive Robert Diamond.
Barclays has named Antony Jenkins as its chief executive, promoting the head of its consumer banking business.
Prosecutors are working with the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Britain's finance regulator, which is conducting a civil investigation into whether the bank adequately disclosed fees it agreed to pay the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the discussions between the agencies were confidential.
Serious Fraud Office spokesman David Jones and a spokesman for the QIA declined to comment.