The man with oversight of Barclays’ balance sheet when it received capital injections from Qatar during the financial crisis told a UK court there was nothing secret or fraudulent about side payments made to the Gulf state.

Glenn Leighton, a ex-managing director at the bank, was speaking at the trial of four former Barclays executives, including former chief executive John Varley, who are accused of lying to investors about the terms of two capital-raisings from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund in 2008.