(Bloomberg) -- John Varley, the ex-chief executive officer of Barclays Plc, faced a £1 million ($1.3 million) penalty from the UK financial watchdog over the bank’s 2008 capital raising with Qatar, court documents revealed.

The Financial Conduct Authority had intended to fine Varley before later discontinuing the proceedings, the filings prepared for a London hearing on Thursday show. 

The fine came to light came after the FCA said at the court hearing that the executive acted “recklessly” at the height of the 2008 financial crisis in a legal clash over whether he should be a witness at an upcoming trial with the bank.

The FCA is pursuing a £50 million fine against Barclays for failing to disclose arrangements with Qatar and accused Varley of giving “untruthful and evasive” accounts of the multi billion pound fundraising. Barclays is appealing the fine and is set to argue its case at a full London trial at the end of the year. 

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The ex-CEO was charged by British prosecutors over the issue in 2017, before the allegations were thrown out by judges two years later in the wake of a brief trial.

The bank’s lawyers denied that either the bank or Varley’s conduct was reckless, saying that the FCA’s pursuit of the executive created a situation that is “unprecedented, unprincipled and unfair.” 

They argued that the FCA discontinued proceedings against Varley in 2020, with its former enforcement chief saying that there should be “finality.”

Varley, who didn’t attend the hearing, can separately ask a court to set aside any witness summons. His lawyer didn’t immediately comment on the hearing.

The investigation related to the bank’s desperate attempts to avoid nationalization, a fate imposed on two competitors as the financial crisis tore into balance sheets in 2008. Faced with diminishing capital reserves, executives turned to the gas-rich Gulf nation of Qatar for investment. The bank avoided a government bailout, but the deal has been a legal headache ever since.

In total, Barclays raised £11.2 billion in two 2008 fundraising rounds — in June and October — allowing it to dodge the bailout terms the British government imposed on other lenders.

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