Barclays agrees to repay $97 million for overcharging investors

US financial regulators on Wednesday said that British banking giant Barclays has agreed to repay approx. USD 97 million to investment clients it overcharged for services.

US Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement that the bank overbilled investment clients by nearly USD 50 million

Co-chief of the SEC Asset Management Unit C Dabney O’Riordan said, “Barclays failed to ensure that clients were receiving the services they were paying for.”

The bank will pay USD 97 million, including a USD 30 million penalty and USD 13.8 million in interest, into a fund to reimburse and compensate investors.

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Some 2,000 clients paid for due diligence and monitoring services that were not performed as advertised, while 63 others paid excess mutual fund sales charges after the bank needlessly recommended more expensive share classes, the SEC said in a statement. An additional 22,138 accounts suffered billing errors.

According to the SEC, the allegation levied on Barclays have neither admitted nor denied by them. The SEC rarely requires firms to admit wrongdoing as formal admission of guilt can expose companies to damaging investor lawsuits.

The news came into limelight after chief executive of the bank Jes Staley apologised to investors during annual meeting of the company for attempting to unmask a whistleblower in another controversy within the bank. Staley was under investigation by regulators and faced a “very significant” pay cut over the incident, Barclays revealed it last month.

With inputs from PTI.

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