Barclays 2008 Qatar fundraising trial set for Jan 2019

[July 17, 2017]  By Lawrence White

LONDON (Reuters) - The trial of Barclays  and four former top executives charged with fraud over undisclosed payments to Qatari investors as part of a 12 billion pound ($15 billion) emergency fundraising during the 2008 financial crisis has been set for January 9 2019, a judge said on Monday.

Former Barclays banker, John Varley, arrives at Southwark Crown Court, in central London, Britain July 17, 2017. REUTERS/Tolga Akmen

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) last month charged Barclays Plc, John Varley, Roger Jenkins, Tom Kalaris and Richard Boath with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation when they negotiated a capital injection for the bank from Qatar.

The bank, Varley and Jenkins also face one charge of unlawful financial assistance.

In a court hearing in London on Monday that lasted under one hour, Judge Andrew Edis set the date of the trial.

Barclays raised around 12 billion pounds in two emergency fundraisings in June and October 2008, mainly from wealthy Gulf investors, that allowed it to avoid being nationalized at the height of the credit crisis.

(Writing by Anjuli Davies; Editing by Rachel Armstrong)

[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.