Barclays reported a pre-tax profit of £3.7 billion in the first six months of 2022, down from £4.9 billion a year ago. Analysts had predicted the bank to report a Q2 pre-tax profit of £3.9 billion.
Barclays’ most recent results were tainted by a £1.3 billion charge in the half to meet the costs of buying back the $17.6 billion worth of securities that it sold in breach of US regulations.
The bank previously admitted to selling more products to US investors than it was permitted to, which triggered an approximate loss of £450 million.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some of the structured goods have increased in popularity, attracting further regulatory scrutiny for Barclays over the error.
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On March 28, the bank disclosed that it had exceeded a US limit on sales of structured products. This triggered a loss and a potential restatement of Barclays’ 2021 accounts.
Barclays’ new CEO, C.S. Venkatakrishnan, has reportedly said that the bank found no evidence to date of deliberate misconduct relating to the blunder and that Barclays was cooperating with all relevant regulators.
On Thursday, the bank said it planned to begin the $1.25 billion buyback “as soon as practicable” after resolving the situation with the US authorities.
“Barclays believes that it is prudent to delay the commencement of the buyback programme until those discussions [with the SEC] have been concluded,” Barclays said.
“Barclays remains committed to the share buyback programme and the intention would be to launch it as soon as practicable following resolution of filing requirements being reached with the SEC and the appropriate 20-F filings having been made.”