Barclays’ Deal With Qatari Sheikh Makes Me Sick, Banker Said - Bloomberg

Barclays’ Deal With Qatari Sheikh Makes Me Sick, Banker Said - Bloomberg:

A group of senior Barclays Plc executives agonized over adding a Qatari royal to a bailout of the bank during the 2008 financial crisis, but it wasn’t enough to kill the deal.

The bankers, now facing fraud charges in a London court, were responsible for finding a multi-billion pound lifeline from Qatar to stave off nationalization by the U.K. However, the country’s prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, intended to invest personally in exchange for a commission structured as an advisory fee.

“It’s like having the president of the United States advise JP Morgan; you just can’t have it,” Roger Jenkins, Barclays’ former Middle Eastern investment banking chief, said of the secret deal that’s ended up in a London court.