Amanda Staveley’s legal row with Barclays to reach crunch point this week
It's a critical week for Amanda Staveley's legal battle with Barclays, with a judge due to decide whether the City financier can have access to documents key to her case.
PCP Capital Partners, the investment vehicle Staveley founded, is suing the banking giant for almost £1bn over the way it handled a 2008 emergency fundraising.
PCP invested in shares in Barclays on behalf of Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, but has also asserted it was a potential investor, not just an adviser, and could have benefited from the capital raising.
Read more: These are the bankers and advisers working on the £3.7bn Tesco-Booker deal
The Sunday Times has reported Staveley has requested access to emails, letters and files she believes are held by Richard Boath, a former senior executive at the bank who has brought an unfair dismissal claim against his former employer.
City PM understands a judge is due to rule this week whether the Staveley can be granted access to the documents, with a decision likely on Friday.
The legal row is being played out at the same time the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is running an investigation into the banking giant's dealings with Qatar during the cash call. The fraud squad, which opened its investigation in 2012, has also confirmed Boath as having given evidence in its probe.
Read more: A Barclays boss thinks blockchain's a "new operating system for the planet"
The SFO has interviewed several former members of the bank's senior management as part of its ongoing investigation, including ex-chief execs Robert Diamond and John Varley, but no charges have been brought against any individuals.
Meanwhile, the Financial Conduct Authority has also moved to hand the bank a £50m penalty over claims Barclays failed to disclose advisory fees forked out to the investors behind its bailout.
In particular, the City watchdog claims the bank paid over £300m to Qatari investors over the course of five years but did not pass on the details in fundraising proposals as it should have done.
Read more: Downing Street stands up for the City in Davos
Staveley declined to comment.
Barclays declined to comment further on the case with PCP, but has previously said: "We believe the claim against Barclays is misconceived and without merit and Barclays will be vigorously defending it."