Barclays faces fresh US investigations

Further legal problems for Barclays. After its reputation was damaged by the Libor interest rate rigging scandal, the British bank is now being investigated by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission over the possible payment of bribes. It could also be fined by US energy regulators over manipulation of electricity prices. At the same time its latest quarterly profit was hit by weaker performance in investment banking and charges for mis-selling of insurance. The numbers Barclays adjusted pretax profit in the three months to the end of September was 1.73 billion pounds, in line with analysts’ forecasts and up from 1.34 billion a year ago. But a 700 million pound charge for mis-selling payment protection insurance pulled pretax profit down 23 percent to 1.03 billion pounds, and a 1.1 billion pound loss on the value of its own debt dragged it to a loss of 47 million pounds for the quarter. Investment bank income was 2.6 billion pounds in the quarter, up 17 percent on the same period the previous year, but down 13 percent on a strong performance in the second quarter.