John Varley, the former boss of Barclays, will stand trial alongside three former colleagues and the bank itself in January 2019, Southwark crown court was told on Monday.

Varley is charged along with Roger Jenkins, Tom Kalaris and Richard Boath over the way the bank raised billions of pounds from Qatar in 2008.



The four men sat alongside each other in the dock at Southwark crown court in London for their first appearance since the high-profile case was transferred there from Westminster magistrates’ court this month. They spoke to confirm their identities.

They are the first senior bankers to face criminal charges in relation to events dating back to the banking crisis almost a decade ago, when Barclays raised £11.8bn in emergency funds from a number of big investors, including Qatar.

Varley, Jenkins, Kalaris – all 61 – and Boath, 58, along with the bank, are charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation in relation to the fundraising in June 2008. Varley, Jenkins and the bank are also charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation in relation to the fundraising that took place in October 2008. Varley, Jenkins and the bank face a further charge of providing unlawful financial assistance through the loan.

Kalaris, a dual US-UK citizen resident in London, and Jenkins, a British citizen resident in Malibu, California, are on £500,000 bail. Varley and Boath are on unconditional bail.

Varley was chief executive of Barclays until the end of 2010. Kalaris ran the bank’s wealth management arm. Jenkins is a former head of Middle East and north African investment banking and Boath is a former head of the bank’s European financial institutions group.

