Barclays said to hand over Qatar documents to SFO

Barclays has reportedly agreed to hand over internal documents to British prosecutors, a move that could end a drawn-out investigation into a 2008 fundraising involving Middle Eastern investors.

Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying the bank is in the process of handing over communication documents to the Serious Fraud Office from the fundraising that it had previously said contained legal advice protected by attorney-client privilege.

Regulators began investigating the British bank in 2012 over two emergency cash injections made mostly by Qatari investors during the financial crisis of 2008.

The Financial Conduct Authority said in September 2013 that Barclays had “acted recklessly” and breached certain rules over disclosing some aspects of the Qatar deal, which enabled the bank to avoid a government rescue like its peers RBS and Lloyds.

Barclays received £322m in secret payments from Qatari investors, which it said was for advisory services, but the regulator accused the bank of agreeing the payments in return for their support for a £5bn fundraising.

At 1535 GMT, Barclays shares were up 5.7% to 175p.