Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Barclays in £6.5bn boost

Friday 31 October 2008 01:00 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Barclays is close to announcing that it has raised the £6.5bn of new capital required of it by the Government. An announcement may come as soon as today.

Rather than accept government money to bolster its balance sheet, as Lloyds TSB, HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland have, Barclays opted to raise the money from private investors. This it appears to have done from strategic investors including the Qataris and other Middle Eastern sources. At the time, the decision to go it alone by Barclays was regarded as "brave" by the City and rival bankers.

But Barclays' strong exposure to investment banking through Barclays Capital meant it did not want to accept government restrictions on bonuses and dividends. It was therefore reluctant to accept the government money that other UK banks have opted for. Barclays' executive were finalising the terms of the capital increase with investors last night.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in