Barclays wins dismissal of US risky debt suit
BARCLAYS won the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by US investors seeking to recover losses from the British bank’s alleged failure to disclose and properly account for its real estate exposure.
US District Judge Paul Crotty found yesterday an “absence of ample allegations that Barclays did not truly believe” how it valued its subprime and other real estate assets, and offered “substantial risk disclosures” regarding its valuations to investors who bought its securities.
The judge also dismissed dozens of additional defendants. Among these were Barclays directors, including current chief executive Bob Diamond and his predecessor John Varley, and more than one dozen underwriters such as Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.
The lawsuit is one of many to accuse major banks of being too slow to report credit deterioration on their balance sheets.