Senior financiers accused of sexism in £1.6bn Barclays court battle

Businesswoman Amanda Staveley said Gulf investors were duped over payments for vital 2008 injection

Financier Amanda Staveley is suing Barclays Bank for up to £1.6 billion. Getty

The head of a UK finance trade body has been accused of personal attacks on a prominent businesswoman at a £1.6 billion (Dh7.4bn) trial that is set to reveal allegations of arrogance, sexism and misogyny at the top of Barclays bank.

Stephen Jones, a former senior executive of the British bank, is accused by lawyers acting for businesswoman Amanda Staveley of “thoroughly unpleasant” personal comments as the bank sought billions of pounds from investors.

The unspecified comments were referred to in legal documents on the opening day of a two-month trial in London focused on the actions of Barclays executives who turned to Qatar and Abu Dhabi to raise more than £11bn during the 2008 financial crisis.

Ms Staveley, the head of private equity company PCP Capital Partners, claims that Barclays repeatedly lied to her over payments to Qatari officials who were given better terms for investing about £4bn during two rounds of fund-raising.

Barclays is contesting the claim and denies that Qatari investors, headed by former prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jabar Al Thani, were given preferential terms. Barclays officials had warned the bank would be “dead” without the Qatari investment.

Ms Staveley's lawyer, Joe Smouha, said conversations between senior officials at the bank would reveal “the pre-global-financial-crisis arrogance, ethical carelessness, focus on bonuses, on money, on jobs and unfortunately also sexism and misogyny”.

Mr Smouha said a “significant theme” in the case would be Barclays “seeking to criticise the professional skill and competence of Ms Staveley”.

He added: “This is regrettably consistent with some attitudes, reflected in some deeply unpleasant personal comments about her – professed by some of Barclays’ most senior staff at the time.”

Mr Jones was a central figure in the fund-raising operation and met Sheikh Hamad in Doha in 2008, London’s High Court heard.

He left the bank in 2011 and for the past three years has been chief executive of UK Finance, which represents 250 companies across the British banking and finance industry.

Last year, he told an annual UK Finance event that the industry had come a long way since Barclays appointed the first female branch manager in 1958.

“But it is not enough progress. It is clear from this room that some barriers still exist,” he said. “As an industry we have a crucial role to play in ensuring we recruit, build and nurture a diverse and inclusive workforce.”

UK Finance has been contacted for comment.

Barclays said the claim by PCP is without merit and the amount claimed is “nonsensical”. Jeffery Onions, a lawyer for Barclays, claimed on Tuesday that the company was acting as a “middleman” for Abu Dhabi rather than as a key investor.

The case started on Monday, four months after three former Barclays executives were cleared of fraud over the Qatar fund-raising operation.

The bank and former chief executive John Varley were also charged, but the cases against them were dropped before they went to trial.