Barclays controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2026
Court of Appeal quashes rate-rigging convictions of five former Barclays traders
Ruling
The Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of five former Barclays traders — Jay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon and Colin Bermingham — who had been jailed following trials for manipulating the interest rates used for loans between banks. The ruling followed a long-running legal battle and came after two other former City traders had their convictions overturned the previous year.
The Court of Appeal on Wednesday quashed the convictions of five former Barclays traders — Jay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon and Colin Bermingham — who had been jailed following trials for manipulating the interest rates used for loans between banks. The ruling followed a long-running legal battle and came after two other former City traders had their convictions overturned the previous year.
Source excerpt
Five former Barclays traders who were jailed in one of the biggest scandals of the financial crisis have had their convictions overturned following a long-running legal battle.
But their convictions were quashed on Wednesday by the Court of Appeal.
2026
Barclays staff and Unite union demand concessions over office attendance policy
Public backlash
Barclays faced a backlash after telling staff expected to work in the office two days a week to be on-site at least three days a week from the following month. The Unite union, representing about 36,000 Barclays staff, called for the bank to reverse the decision, seeking exemptions and a one-off payment to offset increased travel and childcare costs.
Barclays is facing a growing backlash after telling staff expected to work in the office two days a week to be on-site at least three days a week from next month. The Unite union, which represents about 36,000 Barclays staff, is calling for the bank to reverse the decision, seeking exemptions and a one-off payment to offset increased travel and childcare costs.
Stated objective. Calling for Barclays to reverse its decision, with exemptions and a one-off payment to offset increased travel and childcare costs
Source excerpt
Unite, which represents about 36,000 Barclays staff, is calling for the bank to reverse its decision. The union is also pressing for exemptions and a payment to offset increased travel and childcare costs.
Thousands of Barclays staff are demanding concessions from the bank after it said it wants employees to work from the office more often.
But the bank is facing a growing backlash against the proposed rules change
2026
Barclays announces early car-finance compensation offers
Company response
Barclays confirmed it would make early compensation offers to some car-finance claimants before the legal challenges to the FCA's proposed scheme conclude. The offers relate to loans that were mis-sold; the source says claimants would start to be contacted in the coming weeks.
Company response
Refund or compensation — Barclays
Barclays has confirmed it will make early compensation offers from now
Source excerpt
But millions of drivers who took out a car loan between April 2007 and November 2024 will be entitled to compensation after the loans were mis-sold.
Barclays has confirmed it will make early compensation offers from now, with others expected to follow suit.
The lender said claimants would start to be contacted directly "in the coming weeks".
2021
Barclays faces investor backlash over former CEO's pay
Public backlash
In November 2021, Barclays faced investor backlash over the £2.5 million in pay still being paid to former CEO Jes Staley after his resignation. Investors raised concerns about his exit and demanded answers from the bank. The controversy centered on the compensation arrangements for the departing chief executive following his resignation.
Source excerpt
Barclays faces an investor backlash over the £2.5million pay still being handed to Jes Staley following his shock resignation over questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The deal has caused fury among investors, who have raised concerns over Staley’s exit and are demanding answers from the bank.
2021
UK regulators release preliminary conclusions in Barclays CEO probe
Investigation
The Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority released preliminary conclusions in their investigation into Jes Staley’s description to Barclays of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and the bank’s subsequent description of that relationship to the FCA. The article reports that the investigation found no proof Staley saw or knew of Epstein’s alleged crimes.
Source excerpt
The agreement with the outgoing chief executive came after the release of preliminary conclusions in the investigation that the FCA carried out jointly with the Prudential Regulation Authority into Staley’s “characterisation to Barclays of his relationship with the late Mr Jeffrey Epstein and the subsequent description of that relationship in Barclays’ response to the FCA,” the bank said in a statement on Monday.
The bank said the investigation did not reveal any proof that Staley “saw, or was aware of” any of the disgraced tycoon’s alleged crimes.
2020
Travelex ransomware attack and service disruption
Issue disclosure
Travelex was affected by a ransomware attack on New Year's Eve and took its global websites offline. Its update said some data had been encrypted, but that the extent was unknown and there was no evidence that structured personal customer data had been breached. The article also reported that online foreign-currency services at several banks were down. Travelex said it had opened an investigation, was working toward recovery, and had restored some internal systems; its CEO apologized for the inconvenience to partners and customers.
Company response
Investigation — Travelex
Travelex has opened an investigation and confirmed in an update that while there has been some data encryption, and the extent is not yet known, there is no evidence that structured personal customer data has been breached.
Remediation — Travelex
Travelex has said it is working towards total recovery after successfully containing affected areas and added that it has managed to restore a number of internal systems.
Apology — Travelex
In a statement, Travelex chief executive Tony D’Souza apologised for the inconvenience to partners and customers.
Source excerpt
London-headquartered foreign exchange company Travelex was forced to take all its global websites offline and is reportedly being held to ransom by the infamous ransomware strain called Sodinokibi, also known as REvil.
After a recent cyberattack on Travelex, a number of the UK’s biggest high street banks have been affected, with Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Barclays among those left with no online travel money services.
More than a dozen of the major banking players, also including Lloyds Banking Group and Virgin Money, are reporting that their online foreign currency systems are down following the New Year’s Eve ransomware attack on Travelex.
2020
Barclays Bank PLC named among ten banks sued over alleged corporate bond market price coordination
Lawsuit filed
A class action lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court against ten banks, including Barclays Bank PLC, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, alleging that they conspired over nearly 14 years to manipulate prices in the $9.6 trillion corporate bond market. These are allegations in the complaint, not a court finding.
Source excerpt
周二在曼哈顿联邦法院提起的集体诉讼称，这些银行自2006年8月以来违反了反垄断法，在“零股”交易中向投资者收取过高费用。
摩根大通和美国银行在内的10家全球最大银行，于当地周二在曼哈顿联邦法院被起诉，因其涉嫌在近14年时间里串谋操纵9.6万亿美元公司债市场的价格，令普通投资者损失数十亿美元。
2020
UK privacy watchdog probes Barclays over staff monitoring allegations
Investigation
The UK's Information Commissioner's Office said it was conducting a formal probe into allegations that Barclays spied on its staff. The source does not state when the probe began or its outcome.
Source excerpt
Barclays Plc is being probed by the United Kingdom's privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), over allegations that the British bank spied on its staff, the agency said on Sunday.
The ICO said on Sunday a formal probe was ongoing but it could not say when the investigation would conclude.
Earlier this year, Barclays said it was changing a system that the bank was piloting, which tracked how employees spent their time at work, after critical media reports accused the bank of spying on its staff.
2020
FCA fines Barclays £26 million
Fine or penalty
In December 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority fined Barclays Bank PLC £26 million. According to the FCA, the penalty related to failures in the bank's treatment of consumer credit customers who had fallen into arrears. The regulator stated that the fine was imposed for failures in its treatment of these customers. The event was reported as an FCA enforcement action against Barclays concerning its handling of consumer credit customers in arrears.
The Financial Conduct Authority fined Barclays £26 million for failures in its treatment of consumer credit customers who had fallen into arrears.
Source excerpt
The Financial Conduct Authority or FCA has fined Barclays (BARC.L, BCS) 26 million pounds for failures in relation to their treatment of consumer credit customers who fell into arrears.
2020
FCA fines Barclays £26m over treatment of customers in arrears
Fine or penalty
The FCA fined Barclays and its subsidiary Clydesdale Financial Services £26 million over failings in their treatment of retail and small business customers in payment difficulties. The regulator said customers were treated poorly and that Barclays failed to treat them fairly or exercise due skill, care and diligence. Barclays did not dispute the FCA's findings and agreed to settle the case.
Company response
Remediation — Barclays
Adequate measures to resolve the problems were subsequently taken.
Refund or compensation — Barclays
Barclays has contacted all customers whom they think may be due for compensation.
Source excerpt
Barclays has contacted all customers whom they think may be due for compensation.
The watchdog says Barclays failed to treat customers fairly or to act with due skill, care and diligence when they were facing financial difficulties.
Adequate measures to resolve the problems were subsequently taken.
2019
Barclays responds to criticism over Post Office cash access
Company response
After MP Nick Herbert criticized Barclays’ decision to stop allowing customers to withdraw cash over the counter at Post Office branches, Barclays said it was exploring ways to support cash access and was launching a cashback offering with merchants.
Stated objective. Barclays said its commitment was that none of its customers would be without access to cash.
Company response
Clarification — Barclays
In a statement, Adam Rowse, MD branch based Banking at Barclays, said the firm is âconstantly exploring new ways to evolve the role of the branchâ.
Source excerpt
Barclays has spoken out after its cuts to Post Office banking services were slammed by the South Downs MP.
Adam pledged: âOur commitment means none of our customers will be without access to cash.
The firm is launching a cash back offering âworking with merchants to give customers access to cash over the counterâ, Adam said.
2015
Foreign-exchange conduct and controls failures
The FCA identified failures in Barclays' London foreign-exchange business involving supervision, controls and trading-floor practices across spot foreign exchange, emerging-market currencies, options and sales activities.
2015
New York appeals court reverses Barclays liability ruling
Ruling
New York's Court of Appeals reversed a 2013 ruling that had found Barclays liable in its collateral dispute with Black Diamond Capital, and sent the case back to a state judge. The court also denied Barclays' counterclaim.
Source excerpt
The court denied Barclays' counterclaim that Black Diamond violated the agreement by failing to meet two subsequent collateral calls from the bank.
New York state's top court on Thursday reversed a 2013 ruling that found Barclays Plc liable in a $300 million (194 million pounds) dispute with hedge fund Black Diamond Capital over the British bank's refusal to pay back collateral.
New York state’s top court on Thursday reversed a 2013 ruling that found Barclays P.L.C. liable in a $300 million dispute with hedge fund Black Diamond Capital over the British bank’s refusal to pay back collateral.
2014
London Gold Fixing supervision failures
The FCA found that Barclays had inadequate systems and controls for managing conflicts between the bank and customers involved in the London Gold Fixing. The enforcement action included a substantial fine and a prohibition and penalty against a former trader.
2012
LIBOR and EURIBOR manipulation
Regulators found that Barclays employees made inappropriate submissions to benchmark-setting processes, sometimes responding to trader requests and sometimes seeking to influence perceptions of the bank's financial condition during the financial crisis. The misconduct resulted in UK, US and other regulatory actions and contributed to the departures of Chairman Marcus Agius and Chief Executive Bob Diamond.
2008
Qatar-related capital-raising disclosures
Barclays raised private capital from Qatari-linked investors during the financial crisis while entering advisory arrangements that regulators later said should have been disclosed in the relevant announcements and prospectuses. The FCA characterized aspects of the October 2008 conduct as reckless and lacking integrity. Criminal proceedings ended without convictions, while the FCA's civil enforcement action concluded with a £40 million fine in 2024 after Barclays withdrew its tribunal referral.
1990
Zimbabwe lending and sanctions controversy
Barclays faced criticism for continuing to serve customers and provide financing in Zimbabwe during Robert Mugabe's rule, including lending associated with controversial land reforms and maintaining accounts for individuals subject to European Union sanctions. Barclays argued that its local subsidiary operated outside the direct territorial scope of some EU measures and that abandoning ordinary customers would worsen conditions.
1941
Paris branch conduct during the German occupation
Barclays' Paris branch operated under German occupation and has been criticized for providing information about Jewish employees and transferring Jewish accounts to the occupiers. Historical accounts also associate the branch's funds with a quarry supporting German wartime production. The available historical material does not establish contact between the Paris branch and Barclays' London head office during the occupation.