Barclays sued for $326m in Dutch derivatives case

Bloomberg

Barclays Plc was sued for $326 million for its alleged involvement in a derivatives debacle that nearly put a Dutch affordable-housing provider out of business.
Stichting Vestia came close to collapse in 2012, after racking up more than 2 billion euros in losses after derivatives that were supposed to be part of a hedging strategy were found to be flawed because of bribes. It previously sued a number of banks, including Deutsche Bank AG, over the issue and in July turned its efforts to Barclays when it filed a separate suit against the British lender.
The bank is accused of paying commissions on derivative transactions with Vestia between 2008 and 2011 to an intermediary that totaled over 1.5 million euros, according to documents filed by Vestia at the UK High Court.
Vestia’s treasurer at the time, who was accused of being bribed, received approximately half of all the commissions, lawyers for the housing firm said in the filings.
“Barclays has been enriched at Vestia’s expense as a result
of these transactions,” lawyers said. “Vestia is entitled to recover in restitution the amount by which Barclays has been enriched by such void transactions.”
The housing provider alleged that Barclays “failed to make such inquiries as a reasonable person would make” into the transactions.
Vestia’s trial against Deutsche Bank, which eventually settled for 175 million euros, shed light on how the German lender
entertained its clients.
“It is Vestia’s policy to recover the damage caused by the derivatives debacle from those who caused the damage directly or indirectly,” Vestia said.
It’s also agreed settlements with Citigroup Inc. and ABN Amro Bank NV and its cases against BNP Paribas SA and Societe Generale SA in
London are ongoing, it said.