The daily business briefing: June 20, 2017

U.K. officials file charges against Barclays, stocks hit fresh records as tech rebounds, and more

The Barclays headquarters in London
(Image credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

1. U.K. officials file charges against Barclays

The U.K. Serious Fraud Office said Tuesday that it had charged Barclays and four of the bank's former executives with conspiracy to commit fraud and unlawful financial assistance during a 2008 capital raising from Qatar, making the bank the first to face criminal charges over its actions in the 2008 financial crisis. The case stemmed from the bank's effort to raise money to avoid a bailout. The bank is charged with making undisclosed payments to Qatari investors. The executives charged were former CEO John Varley, former chairman of Middle East investment banking Roger Jenkins, former head of investment banking Richard Boath, and former wealth division head Thomas Kalaris. Barclays said it was "considering its position" and one of its lawyers said the bank would "vigorously defend against these charges."

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.