Barclays faces £450m loss over securities mix-up
Barclays is reportedly facing a £450m loss over the mishandling of US securities in 2019, which has forced the lender to hit pause on its £1bn share buyback scheme.
The scheme will be frozen until the error is investigated by regulators, The Times first reported.
The banking giant said it had offered and sold too many structured notes and exchange-trades notes, which will have to be bought back from customers at the same price the bank sold them.
While securities are necessary to meet “actual and anticipated” client demand, the London-headquartered lender said they had been oversupplied.
Barclays said the £450m was a “best estimate” of the losses it could swallow, thought it has not yet been finalised.
The bank added that it remained “committed to its structured products business in the Unites States” despite the mix-up.
It is expected the share buyback programme will be pushed back to the second quarter of this year.