Updated, 12:25 p.m. |
Barclays investors appeared to be spooked on Thursday by a lawsuit accusing the bank of fraud in how it marketed its private stock trading platform.
Shares of the bank fell 6.5 percent in London trading, to 215 pence.
The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court on Wednesday by the state's attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, contends Barclays favored high-frequency traders over other investors in its private trading platform, which is known as a dark pool. Mr. Schneiderman contends Barclays falsely portrayed the concentration of high-frequency traders in the dark pool and misrepresented a service that it said would protect investors from predatory trading behavior.
The lawsuit seeks to compel the bank to forfeit the profits gained through its actions and pay an unspecified amount of damages. Asked on Wednesday how much money he was seeking, Mr. Schneiderman answered simply, "A lot."
The bank's dark pool, known as LX, has grown rapidly to become one of the biggest on Wall Street, providing a lucrative source of revenue for Barclays. It acquired the operation through its purchase of certain assets of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
Among other documents, the lawsuit quotes internal emails in which Barclays employees appear to discuss inaccuracies in marketing materials. In one email conversation in 2012, a vice president is quoted as saying, "I had always liked the idea that we were being transparent, but happy to take liberties if we can all agree."
A spokesman for Barclays, Mark Lane, said in a statement on Wednesday that the bank was cooperating with the attorney general and the Securities and Exchange Commission. "We take these allegations very seriously," he said.
Tina Fineberg for The New York TimesThe Barclays building in New York. source : http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/640316/s/3be80e72/sc/2/l/0Ldealbook0Bnytimes0N0C20A140C0A60C260Cbarclays0Eshares0Etumble0Eafter0Ehigh0Efrequency0Etrading0Elawsuit0C0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm
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