Barclays Investigating Singapore Private Banker After Dismissal

By Sanat Vallikappen

Barclays Plc (BARC) dismissed a Singapore- based private banker and is helping authorities investigate potential wrongdoing affecting clients’ assets.

The banker was fired on Feb. 6 and the company is working with the white-collar crime investigation agency of the Singapore police force to probe the matter, according to Eugenia Koh, a Singapore-based spokeswoman for Barclays.

The city’s Business Times reported today that the bank dismissed Jagdish Kale, who handled accounts of non-resident Indian customers, for alleged misuse of client money. He was hired from UBS AG in 2010. Kale declined to comment immediately when contacted on his mobile phone.

“We have notified the relevant authorities and are working closely with them to expedite investigations,” Koh said in an e-mail. The bank has hired an external forensic team for its own investigations, and affected clients are being compensated, she said.

“The investigation has established that only a very small number of clients of this banker have been impacted,” Koh said, without specifying the number of clients or the funds involved. The case involves an “isolated banker” and London-based Barclays has taken measures to prevent similar incidents from occurring, she said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sanat Vallikappen in Singapore atvallikappen@bloomberg.net

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