Barclays trade highest since ‘lying’ case

Barclays Plc saw the volume of US shares traded at its ‘dark pool’ rise to the highest since it was sued by New York for allegedly lying to customers of the venue. 

About 106m US shares were traded in the private-trading platform in the week of July 28, up 21% from about 87.6m in the previous week, according to data from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. That’s the most since 312m shares were traded in the week of June 23.

Britain’s second-largest bank is fighting allegations by New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman that it falsified marketing materials to hide the presence of high-frequency traders at what used to be Wall Street’s second-largest dark pool.

The bank has challenged Schneiderman’s complaint, saying it’s based on “clear and substantial factual errors”.

“We do not believe this suit is justified, and we have a duty to our shareholders, clients and staff to defend our position,” Barclays said in a statement.

The stock rose 0.9% to 219.6p in London. The shares have dropped 19% this year, making Barclays the worst performer among Britain’s five largest banks.

The London-based bank has slipped from being the second-largest dark-pool operator in the US behind Credit Suisse Group AG to No 13, according to Finra data.

Credit Suisse’s Crossfinder venue saw the total volume of US shares traded gain 19% to 455.6m in the week of July 28.

Barclays, led by chief executive, Antony Jenkins, is facing various legal battles around the world over allegations of past misconduct, with a litigation bill that could rise to as much as $12bn (€8.98bn) over the next four years, analysts at Nomura International Plc led by Chintan Joshi wrote last month.

Nomura has a buy recommendation on the shares.

The case is New York v Barclays Capital, 451391-2014, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.