Feb 11, 2019
Varley faced walking ‘the plank’ if Qatar rescue failed
A senior Barclays executive speculated that his former chief executive John Varley would have to "Walk the plank" if the bank's capital fundraising had failed in June 2008, a high-profile fraud trial heard on Monday. The Serious Fraud Office, which is prosecuting the case, has alleged that four top former Barclays bankers lied to the market about fees paid to Qatar over the course of two emergency fundraisings in 2008. It alleges Mr Varley, then chief executive of Barclays, along with Roger Jenkins, Richard Boath and Tom Kalaris funnelled £322m to Qatar in return for its investment in Barclays via two advisory service agreements. On Monday the jury was played phone calls between Mr Jenkins, the former head of Barclays' Middle East operations, and Mr Boath, a senior investment banker, who were helping raise capital from Qatar as the negotiations reached a critical stage on June 23, 2008. Mr Jenkins, known to colleagues as "Big Dog", joked with Mr Boath that if the fundraising failed: "Varley then has walked the plank and I'm in charge."
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