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| US prosecutors announce fraud charges against Barclays | US prosecutors announce fraud charges against Barclays |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Fraud charges against Barclays in the US over the bank's "dark pool" trading operations have been announced by New York state prosecutors. | Fraud charges against Barclays in the US over the bank's "dark pool" trading operations have been announced by New York state prosecutors. |
| Dark pools allow banks' clients to trade large blocks of shares while keeping prices more private. | Dark pools allow banks' clients to trade large blocks of shares while keeping prices more private. |
| Prosecutors said Barclays gave clients "false statements" and misrepresented the kinds of investors that were using the dark pool. | |
| Barclays said it is taking the allegations "very seriously". | |
| 'Full of predators' | |
| New York Attorney General Schneiderman said: "The facts alleged in our complaint show that Barclays demonstrated a disturbing disregard for its investors in a systematic pattern of fraud and deceit." | New York Attorney General Schneiderman said: "The facts alleged in our complaint show that Barclays demonstrated a disturbing disregard for its investors in a systematic pattern of fraud and deceit." |
| "Barclays grew its dark pool by telling investors they were diving into safe waters. According to the lawsuit, Barclays' dark pool was full of predators - there at Barclays' invitation," he said. | "Barclays grew its dark pool by telling investors they were diving into safe waters. According to the lawsuit, Barclays' dark pool was full of predators - there at Barclays' invitation," he said. |
| The lawsuit said that Barclay's marketing material was misleading over the extent of high-frequency trading in its dark pool. | |
| High-frequency traders use fast, sophisticated trading software and can make large profits on very small moves in share prices. | |
| The lawsuit accused Barclays of telling investors trading was being closely monitored and "predatory" traders would be held accountable. | The lawsuit accused Barclays of telling investors trading was being closely monitored and "predatory" traders would be held accountable. |
| 'Inside help' | |
| But in fact Barclays did not prohibit a single trader from operating in its dark pool, the lawsuit said. | |
| In addition, the lawsuit alleges that Barclays operated its dark pool to favour high-frequency traders and "actively sought to attract them". | |
| In a statement the bank said: "Barclays has been cooperating with the New York attorney general and the SEC and has been examining this matter internally. The integrity of the markets is a top priority of Barclays." | |
| The attorney general said that the investigation had been significantly helped by a number of former Barclays' employees. | |
| Other investigations | |
| Barclays has been the subject of several investigations, fines and settlements in recent years. | |
| In May it was fined £26m by UK regulators after one of its traders was discovered attempting to fix the price of gold. | |
| In April, Barclays agreed to a $280m (£167m) settlement with the US Federal Housing and Finance Authority (FHFA). | |
| The agreement settles claims by the FHFA that Barclays misled US mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the housing crisis. | |
| In 2012 it was fined £290m by UK regulators for attempting to manipulate an important lending rate, known as Libor. |