Jury discharged at trial of ex-Barclays execs

The jury in the trial of four former Barclays executives accused of fraud during the 2008 financial crisis has been discharged, Britain's Press Association newswire reported Monday.

Ex-CEO John Varley and former executives Roger Jenkins, Thomas Kalaris and Richard Boath, had been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with an emergency fundraising from Qatar during the financial crisis. All four men had pleaded not guilty.

The trial at London's Southwark Crown Court began on January 23 and had been expected to last about four months.

No further information was available on Monday because the case remains subject to continuing reporting restrictions, according to PA.

Varley, who was chief executive from 2004 to 2010, is the highest ranking UK banking official to face charges linked to the financial crisis.

The charges concern emergency funding secured from Qatari investors in 2008 as the global banking sector went into meltdown.

In order to avoid asking the UK government for a taxpayer bailout, Barclays raised nearly 12 billion pounds (13.5 billion euros, USD 16.6 billion) from investors in the Middle East, including the Qatari state sovereign wealth fund, to help it weather the storm.

In turn, Barclays loaned USD 3 billion to the State of Qatar.

By contrast, British rivals Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group had to have billions of pounds of taxpayers' money pumped into them.