Barclays haunted by smoke and mirrors accounting
Barclays has been forced to buy back assets sold in an attempt to beautify its balance sheet, analysts have claimed
Barclays has been forced to buy back assets sold in an attempt to beautify its balance sheet, analysts have claimed
ACCOUNTING RULES that allowed Barclays to divest itself of $12.5bn (£7.5bn) of bad assets has come back to haunt the bank, according to analysts.
Barclays spun out investment firm C12 Capital Management and granted it a hefty loan to take the assets off its hands, thereby wiping the undervalued portfolio off its balance sheet and replacing it with the C12 loan.
Basel III rules require the bank to reserve more capital than expected for the loan, meaning Barclays needed to wrest control of the assets back in order to sell them off as fast as possible, City A.M. reports.
This has led to an embarrassing u-turn, with the bank buying back the assets and shelling out £83m as a pay-off to C12. One analyst said the deal “caused immense confusion, left a bad taste and now [the bank is] unwinding it anyway”. Barclays is likely to sell the portfolio at a discount over the next three years, meaning that it does not have to hold capital against it.
The bank unveiled its Q1 results yesterday and met with disgruntled shareholders at its AGM. Pre-tax profit fell 9% year-on-year and a significant 9.7% voted against Barclays’ remuneration package, indicating anger at pay packets that have climbed to pre-crisis level while shareholder dividends languish greatly reduced.
More about:
The numbers you crunch tell a story. Your expertis...
13yEmbracing user-friendly AP systems can turn the tide, streamlining workflows, enhancing compliance, and opening doors to early payment discounts. Read...
View articleOrganisations can enhance their financial operations' efficiency, accuracy, and responsiveness by adopting platforms that offer them self-service cust...
View articleIn a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...
View resourceDiscover how AP dashboards can transform your business by enhancing efficiency and accuracy in tracking key metrics, as revealed by the latest insight...
View articleThe Practitioner wonders if the banks will step up when alternative financers start to struggle... Read More...
View articleProperty investment business gains access to more working capital and cash Read More...
View articleFSB sees growing confidence in the ability to access finance Read More...
View articleStrong finance and accounting presence in TMT start-ups gives them a better chance of success, according to research Read More...
View articleA further layer of complexity is to be added to accounting regulations to help allay concerns on a future financial crisis - but it highlights separat...
View articleDespite generally positive sentiment towards the banks, many businesses are looking to alternative methods of financing Read More...
View articleDisappointing sales figures sees HMV likely to breach covenants in January Read More...
View articleLack of finance. Lack of recognition of government initiatives. Are advisors doing enough to help boost their clients? Read More...
View article