Barclays Reaches $19.5m Settlement Over Debt Sale Blunder

Barclays Bank has agreed to pay $19.5 million to settle a lawsuit in Manhattan by shareholders who accused the British bank of securities fraud after it sold $17.7 billion more debt than regulators allowed.

A preliminary settlement of the proposed class action was filed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.

Shareholders claimed they lost money by relying on Barclays’ assurances that its policies and procedures met regulatory standards, and that the bank was committed to strong internal controls.

Barclays admitted in March 2022 that it had sold $15.2 billion more structured and exchange-traded notes in the prior five years than the $20.8 billion authorised by U.S. regulators.

Four months later, the bank increased the oversold amount to $17.7 billion, offered to repurchase the excess, and set aside $2 billion for the overissuance.