Fresh row hits tainted UK Finance: Ex boss accused of sorting 'questionable' £2bn loan as Barclays fought to avoid a Government bailout in 2008

By Tom Witherow For The Daily Mail

Updated:

The former boss of UK Finance embroiled in a sexism row has been dragged deeper into Amanda Staveley's £1.6billion High Court battle with Barclays.

Staveley, a high profile financier, has accused Stephen Jones of engineering a 'questionable' £2billion loan as Barclays fought to avoid a Government bailout in 2008.

Jones stepped down as boss of the lobbying group on Tuesday after making 'highly derogatory' comments about Staveley during the financial crisis.

Amanda Staveley: The high profile financier, accused top brass at Barclays of ‘sexism and misogyny’

But as managing director of Barclays Capital at the time he also helped arrange a loan with Qatari investors which Staveley has alleged may have been illegal.

Staveley, who burst into tears yesterday after being accused of trying to 'hustle' Barclays out of hundreds of millions of pounds, previously told the court that Barclays secretly offered Qatari investors the £2billion loan behind her back, while also concealing it from shareholders.

She has suggested the money, loaned in November 2008, was used to invest in Barclays shares – a banned practice known as financial assistance.

In October 2008 the bank was desperately seeking to avoid a Government bailout by raising £7.3billion from Middle Eastern investors, the court heard.

Staveley and her firm PCP Capital helped secure a bail-out from Abu Dhabi investors.

Fraud claim over Yellow Pages 

 By TOM WITHEROW and JAMES BOOTH

UK Finance's chairman is facing a court hearing next month in a multi-million pound claim alleging he defrauded shareholders while chair of Yellow Pages-owner Hibu.

The case in the US has been a major headache for City grandee Bob Wigley, who lost his chief executive Stephen Jones over a sexism row earlier this week.

Court hearing: City grandee Bob Wigley is accused of defrauding shareholders while chair of Yellow Pages-owner Hibu

Court hearing: City grandee Bob Wigley is accused of defrauding shareholders while chair of Yellow Pages-owner Hibu

The claim relates to Wigley's time as chairman of directories business Hibu which crashed into administration in 2013 wiping out the holdings of smaller shareholders.

An action group of 450 aggrieved former shareholders sued Wigley, Hibu and other directors of the company in the US last summer. 

The case is set to go before the US District Court in Philadelphia on July 20 on a motion to dismiss the claim, according to documents filed in the US this week.

The lawsuit, first filed in August last year, alleges that Wigley and Hibu chief executive Mike Pocock, who died in December 2018, misled shareholders with positive updates about the firm's position, while moving cash to subsidiaries to prepare for administration.

The claim accuses Hibu and its former directors of fraudulent misrepresentation, deceit and negligent misstatement. 

The claim said: 'The conspiracy culminated when, in secret cooperation with its lenders, the company effectively divested itself of assets so as to qualify for 'administration' and extinguished the rights of its shareholders, with no compensation.'

The defence argues the case should be dismissed as the court lacks jurisdiction over the defendants and the claim has been filed too late.

Chris Belcher, from the Hibu action group, said shareholders took the case to the US after feeling let down by the UK regulatory response to their claims.

Wigley could not be reached for comment yesterday.

She said Barclays told her six times that PCP and the Abu Dhabi investors would be offered the same deal as the Qataris, it is claimed. 

Instead the bank is accused of misleading markets and funnelling an extra £346million in secret fees to the Qataris, a move which 'smacked of corruption', according to court documents.

Staveley is claiming between £400million and £1.6billion in damages.

The loan, according to Staveley's witness statement, was 'a large, unsecured loan whose purpose seemed to change during the negotiations'.

It caused immense disquiet within Barclays because banks were slashing risky borrowing to protect their balance sheets, it is claimed. 

Former boss: Jones engineered a ‘questionable’ £2bn loan as Barclays fought to avoid a Government bailout in 2008

Former boss: Jones engineered a ‘questionable’ £2bn loan as Barclays fought to avoid a Government bailout in 2008

But the court heard that pressure was exerted by the former chief executive Bob Diamond to do the deal, with Jones saying in a call: 'We have to find a way of making this financing available.'

The loan was agreed within weeks of the Qatar investment in Barclays, it is claimed, and Jones admitted 'we would go to prison' if the money were 'explicitly to fund the capital raising efforts'.

In court documents Staveley's firm PCP claims that making the loan constituted unlawful financial assistance under the Companies Act 1985. Barclays dispute the claim saying the loan contract explicitly prevented Qatar from using the money in this way.

Yesterday Staveley was accused of lying by Barclays' barrister.

Jeffery Onions QC rejected Staveley's claim that she was crucial to the Abu Dhabi rescue deal, and portrayed her as an inexperienced, bit-player prepared to use false documents to make herself a fortune. 

He said: 'You were effectively engaged in what might be colloquially called a hustle – trying to place yourself at the centre. You had no funds to invest, and nothing to offer.'

Staveley has also accused Barclays's top brass of 'sexism and misogyny', with executives branding her a 'tart' and a 'foxy blonde'.

Jones's personal comments about Staveley have not been revealed, but he has said they were 'wholly inappropriate. I regret making these comments and I cannot defend them and will not seek to'. UK Finance declined to comment.

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