Barclays prepares for £2bn fine over foreign exchange rate-rigging scandal
Barclays is bracing itself for a �2bn bill. - Credit: PA
Barclays is braced for a bill of more than £2billion after increasing the amount of money set aside to settle a foreign exchange rate-rigging investigation.
The banking giant made another £800million in provisions in relation to the scandal, which has already resulted in six other lenders being fined £2.6bn by global regulators.
Barclays has also taken an additional £150m towards redress for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI), lifting its total provision for the long-running case to £943m.
The items overshadowed the latest results from the bank after it posted a 9% increase in pre-tax profits to £1.85 billion for the first quarter of the year.
Chief executive Antony Jenkins said: “Resolving legacy conduct issues is an important part of our plan to transform Barclays.
“We are working hard to expedite their settlement and have taken further provisions of £800m this quarter, primarily relating to foreign exchange.
“While we still have much to do, I am pleased with how we’ve begun 2015.”
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The bank chose not to enter into settlements last November when other lenders were punished by regulators including the Financial Conduct Authority.
It is seeking a “more general coordinated settlement”, with other authorities in the US still investigating.
Barclays has been reviewing its foreign exchange trading over a period of several years and is continuing to co-operate with relevant bodies. It has warned that these investigations could result in “substantial monetary penalties”, with today’s results taking provisions for potential litigation above £2bn.
