Barclays hit with $453m fine for energy market manipulation

Barclays has been hit with a record fine from a US regulator for allegedly manipulating energy markets in California and other US states.

The bank and four traders must pay fines totalling $453m (around £300m) after the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said it deliberately lost money in energy markets to benefit its financial positions between 2006 and 2008. FERC last night upheld its October 2012 proposal to fine the bank and four of its staff. The managing director of Barclays' power trading team must pay $15m, with three others hit with fines of $1m each. The bank itself has been fined $435m. "FERC finds that [the traders'] actions demonstrate an affirmative, coordinated and intentional effort to car...