Barclays has for some time been party to proceedings, including a class action, in the United States against a number of defendants following the collapse of Enron; the class action claim is commonly known as the Newby litigation. On 20th July 2006, Barclays received an Order from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston Division which dismissed the claims against Barclays PLC, Barclays Bank PLC and Barclays Capital Inc. in the Newby litigation. On 4th December 2006 the Court stayed Barclays dismissal from the proceedings and allowed the plaintiffs to file a supplemental complaint. On 19th March 2007 the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its decision on an appeal by Barclays and two other financial institutions contesting a ruling by the District Court allowing the Newby litigation to proceed as a class action. The Court of Appeals held that because no proper claim against Barclays and the other financial institutions had been alleged by the plaintiffs, the case could not proceed against them. The plaintiffs applied to the United States Supreme Court for a review of this decision. On 22nd January 2008, the United States Supreme Court denied the plaintiffs’ request for review. Following the Supreme Court’s decision, the District Court ordered a further briefing concerning the status of the plaintiffs’ claims. Barclays plans to seek the dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims.
Barclays considers that the Enron related claims against it are without merit and is defending them vigorously. It is not possible to estimate Barclays possible loss in relation to these matters, nor the effect that they might have upon operating results in any particular financial period.
Barclays has been in negotiations with the staff of the US Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to a settlement of the Commission’s investigations of transactions between Barclays and Enron. Barclays does not expect that the amount of any settlement with the Commission would have a significant adverse effect on its financial position or operating results.
Like other UK financial services institutions, Barclays faces numerous County Court claims and complaints by customers who allege that its unauthorised overdraft charges either contravene the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 or are unenforceable penalties or both. Pending resolution of the test case referred to below (the ‘test case’), existing and new claims in the County Courts are stayed, and there is an FSA waiver of the complaints handling process and a standstill of Financial Ombudsman Service decisions. In July 2007, and by agreement with all parties, the OFT launched the test case by commencing proceedings against seven banks and one building society including Barclays, the first stage of which seeks declarations on two issues of legal principle. The hearing commenced on 17th January 2008. Barclays is defending the test case vigorously. It is not practicable to estimate Barclays possible loss in relation to these matters, nor the effect that they may have upon operating results in any particular financial period.
Barclays is engaged in various other litigation proceedings both in the United Kingdom and a number of overseas jurisdictions, including the United States, involving claims by and against it which arise in the ordinary course of business. Barclays does not expect the ultimate resolution of any of the proceedings to which Barclays is party to have a significant adverse effect on the financial position of the Group and Barclays has not disclosed the contingent liabilities associated with these claims either because they cannot reasonably be estimated or because such disclosure could be prejudicial to the conduct of the claims.