Why I’m sad to see Barclays in the dock – and astonished to see John Varley there

Regular readers know I have an umbilical connection to Barclays, because my father spent his working life there, I was on the payroll myself for a decade, and I wrote a book about the bank’s modern history, called Falling Eagle. So I cannot react objectively to news that the Serious Fraud Office has brought charges against Barclays’ holding company and four former executives in relation to the £7 billion fundraising from Middle Eastern investors, including Qatar Holdings, that saved it from a taxpayer bailout in 2008. On behalf of the extended family of Barclays folk, I cannot feel anything but sadness to see a once-respected institution brought into the dock. All the more so since — despite the shenanigans of RBS, HBoS and all the rest — these are the first criminal charges against any UK bank or senior bankers in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

They relate to £322 million of ‘-advisory’ payments and a £2 billion loan to Qatar Holdings at the time of the fundraising; the loan is alleged to constitute ‘unlawful financial assistance’, since it could be interpreted in court as Barclays lending to itself.