US probes Barclays’ alleged improper payments to King Abdullah’s son Turki


Following on from the November 2012 news that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) was investigating whether Barclays had made improper payments to win a banking licence in Saudi Arabia, the Financial Times (FT) has revealed that the DoJ is now investigating two transactions that may connect Barclays to King Abdullah’s powerful son Turki, the recently appointed Riyadh deputy governor. In August 2009, Barclays was awarded an investment banking licence by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) to operate locally as Barclays Saudi Arabia; the DoJ was to look at whether the bank may have contravened the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in obtaining it. Barclays said last November that it did not make any illegal payment to the CMA or its officials. The CMA also said it was not aware of any investigations.