A court battle between Barclays and the City regulator over controversial deals the bank struck to avoid a government bailout during the 2008 crisis has been called off, after the lender agreed to pay a £40 million fine.
The FTSE 100 bank had been set to fight a penalty from the Financial Conduct Authority in a three-week court case due to start today, but said just hours before the hearing was due to begin that it had withdrawn its challenge.
Barclays said that although it did not accept the regulator’s findings, it nevertheless wanted to “draw a line” under the matter “in view of the time elapsed since the events”.
The case would have thrust the 16-year-old controversy, which has already been the subject of