Barclays has been fined £40 million by the UK’s financial watchdog for “reckless” conduct when securing funds from Qatari investors during the 2008 financial crash.
The bank had been due to challenge the case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in court this week.
But it said it had decided to drop the appeal, shortly before proceedings were set to begin.
The FCA’s decision comes two years after the regulator found Barclays’ conduct at the time was “reckless and lacked integrity”.
The case involved the bank paying hundreds of millions of pounds in fees to certain Qatari entities that were key investors as part of fundraising efforts, announced on June 25 and October 31 2008.
Barclays disclosed details of the June agreement but it did not for the October agreement, nor did it shed light on the fees it paid the investors in exchange for their participation, the FCA found.
The bank paid one Qatari entity £322 million in fees for its participation over a number of years, which it did not tell shareholders about.
Steve Smart, the FCA’s joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said on Monday: “Barclays’ misconduct was serious and meant investors did not have all the information they should have had.
“However, the events took place over 16 years ago and we recognise that Barclays is a very different organisation today, having implemented change across the business.”
The FCA previously decided to impose a fine worth £50 million.
But the penalty has been lowered to £40 million following Barclays’ decision to drop the appeal.
Barclays said it wants to “draw a line under” the issue, but stressed that it does not agree with the FCA’s decision.
A spokeswoman for Barclays said that “in view of the time elapsed since the events, Barclays wishes to draw a line under the issues” referred to by the FCA.
“Barclays does not accept the findings of the decision notices and this has been acknowledged by the FCA,” she said.
“Notwithstanding the difference of view, Barclays has concluded that the interests of the bank, its shareholders and other stakeholders are best served by withdrawing the references.”
