Clifford Chance has taken over the lead role for Barclays in the high-profile Guardian Care Homes Libor and misselling case.
The magic circle firm has been acting for the bank on the case jointly with Matthew Arnold & Baldwin (MAB), but it has been agreed jointly between Barclays, MAB and Clifford Chance that regulatory partner Ian Moulding will now take the lead role.
MAB continue to be retained in connection with misselling claims. The Lawyer understands MAB has a general mandate for Barclays’ work on misselling claims brought against the bank. Clifford Chance is understood to have been advising the bank on Libor for a number of years.
Adrian Beltrami QC of 3 Verulam Buildings remains the defence counsel in the case, having filed Barclays’ defence papers on 10 August (13 August 2012).
The next hearing is scheduled for the end of October.
Boutique litigation firm Cooke Young & Keidan partner Philip Young has instructed counsel Tim Lord QC of Brick Court Chambers on behalf of care home provider Guardian Care Homes, which is pursuing allegations of interest rate swap misselling and Libor fixing against the bank.
Guardian Care Homes accused the bank of selling it derivative products that were highly unlikely to offer protection against rising interest rates. Barclays denies the allegations.
It is one of the first Libor and misselling claims against the big four banks to be litigated and has attracted a lot of interest from the media, politicians and the legal profession.
Clifford Chance is also understood to be advising Barclays on its probe by the SFO over Qatar payments (31 August 2012).
This is an amended version of an article that first appeared on 13 September 2012. For a full correction click here.
