Barclays sets aside a further £1bn over forex rigging and PPI mis-selling

Barclays has been forced to set aside almost another £1bn as it braces for a fine for rigging foreign exchange markets and to pay more compensation for mis-selling payment protection insurance.

The bank is in effect signalling that it expects to faceat least £2bn in penalties and litigation from regulators in the UK and US, which are investigating the manipulation of the £3.5tn-a-day forex markets. Major banks have already been fined £2.6bn for the offences but Barclays was not part of the co-ordinated settlement announced in November, pulling out at the last moment.

Campaigners for a tax on financial markets said the increasing scale of the penalties showed it was time to get a tighter grip on banks. “The sheer scale of Barclays’ provisions for ripping people off and fiddling markets is staggering. It’s a disgrace that such industrial-scale scamming has become the norm in the City. It’s bad for banks and it’s bad for Britain,” said David Hillman, spokesman for the Robin Hood tax compaign.

The charges – £800m for currency market manipulation and £150m for PPI – resulted in profits falling by 26% to £1.3bn in the first three months of the year. The additional £800m for foreign exchange rigging comes just two months after it raised its provision to £1.25bn – raising speculation that a fine is imminent.

Antony Jenkins, Barclays’ chief executive, focused on a 9% rise in underlying profits as he admitted the bank faced further penalties. He has been attempting to restore the bank’s reputation after taking the helm following the £290m fine for Libor manipulation in June 2012.

“Resolving legacy conduct issues is also an important part of our plan to transform Barclays. We are working hard to expedite their settlement and have taken further provisions of £800m this quarter, primarily relating to foreign exchange,” said Jenkins

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/apr/29/barclays-sets-aside-further-1bn-forex-rigging-ppi-mis-selling