Barclays fired banker in response to what he told SFO: lawyer

(Releads with details, comments from tribunal hearing)

By Steve Slater and Alex Chambers

LONDON, Nov 23 (IFR) - Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) dismissed one of its most senior investment bankers as a "direct response" of what he told the Serious Fraud Office during an investigation into the bank, his lawyer said in court on Wednesday.

Richard Boath was interviewed by the SFO in a criminal investigation over the bank's fundraising from Gulf investors during the financial crisis, and is now suing Barclays in a pay dispute and for unfair dismissal for whistle blowing.

Boath's lawyer, Jonathan Cohen, told the London employment tribunal Barclays fired Boath after the SFO handed over its transcripts of its lengthy interviews with him.

"That's why he was out on his ear," Cohen said.

Boath was co-head of global finance in EMEA, one of Barclays' most senior bankers, at the time it raised funds with Qatar and other investors in 2008. The deal enabled Barclays to avoid taking a state bailout, but has since been criticised as too generous to the investors and not fully transparent.

The SFO's lawyer confirmed in court it interviewed Boath "under caution" in 2014.

The SFO wants to keep details of that interview private, saying it could prejudice any future charges it could bring against people involved in the fundraising.

The application over privacy has bogged down the start of the employment tribunal hearing. On the first two days, the judge and a host of lawyers discussed whether even the discussion about keeping the hearing private should be heard in private or public.

Judge Prichard ruled late on Tuesday that part of the discussion about privacy should be in public. A decision on whether the hearing itself is in public or private could be made later this week or early next week.

Edward Brown, lawyer for the SFO, said: "The seriousness of this investigation should not be underestimated."

He said it was complex, potentially involved serious crime, and had taken up a lot of resources.

The SFO has said it expects to decide whether to charge Barclays and former executives by the end of March.

"The investigation continues and evidence is being gathered....there are a number who are suspected of criminal offences," Brown said.

Thomson Reuters (Dusseldorf: TOC.DU - news) , the owner of IFR, is part of a media consortium arguing for the hearing to be held in public.

Cohen said it would be "a travesty" to prevent reporting of the case.

He said if the SFO still had to interview any material witnesses after four years investigating the case then "it hasn't been doing a very good job".

The investigation centres on commercial agreements between Barclays and Qatari investors as part of a capital raising to raise a total of about £12bn at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, which included a loan by Barclays to Qatar.

Barclays said in 2013 British authorities were investigating the bank and four current and former senior employees over the fundraising.

Sources familiar with the matter have said former chief executives Bob Diamond and John Varley have also been interviewed by the SFO, and so have former finance director Chris Lucas and former tax advisory boss Roger Jenkins.

Boath, most recently Barclays' chairman of the financial institutions group, left the bank in March. (Editing by Matthew Davies)