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. The outline of the case has long been known, but goodness knows how long it will take to come to trial. Meanwhile, what is most astonishing to anyone familiar with the dramatis personae of modern Barclays is that among the individuals charged is the former chief executive John Varley.

I first knew Varley in the 1980s as an exceptionally capable young manager, trained as a solicitor, impeccably well tailored and mannered, who always looked destined for the top — but was also universally liked by his colleagues. One of our bosses told me he was ‘the best man I’ve worked with in 30 years’, and many of us thought him a last standard-bearer of rectitude, courtesy and human concern in a City that was changing for the worse.