"At the height of the financial crisis in October 2008, Barclays paid hundreds of millions of pounds in fees to certain Qatari investors so that they would contribute new capital."
The FCA has fined Barclays a total of £50 million for failing to disclose arrangements with Qatari entities as part of its capital raisings in 2008.
The regulator argues that Barclays' conduct in the capital raising was "reckless and lacked integrity".
Barclays have referred their Decision Notices to the Upper Tribunal, who will now determine whether to uphold the FCA’s decisions against Barclays and whether there are any other actions that should be taken by the FCA.
The FCA issued Warning Notices against Barclays in 2013. The case was paused at that point pending the resolution of criminal proceedings brought by the Serious Fraud Office against Barclays and others. The case restarted following the end of those proceedings in 2019.
The investigation found that Qatari entities were key investors in both capital raisings during the time of the 2008 financial crisis. As part of the deal, Barclays paid a total of £322 million to the Qataris as part of "two advisory agreements".
The FCA says Barclays did not disclose one of the agreements, and did not disclose the payments under the capital raisings or their connection to the Qataris’ participation in the capital raisings.
The FCA considers that it would have been "highly relevant information to shareholders, investors and the wider market, especially in October 2008, in circumstances where the disclosed costs were already perceived to be very expensive".
Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, commented: "At the height of the financial crisis in October 2008, Barclays paid hundreds of millions of pounds in fees to certain Qatari investors so that they would contribute new capital. Barclays did not inform the market and shareholders about these matters as required. Barclays’ failure to disclose these matters was reckless and lacked integrity and followed an earlier failure to disclose fees paid to Qatari investors in June 2008.
"There was no legitimate reason or excuse for failing to disclose these matters, certainly no basis for doing so because of the financial crisis. Due transparency is always critical to financial markets, especially in times of market or financial stress. These findings by the FCA will now be considered by the Upper Tribunal."
