With a High Court judge having denied the Serious Fraud Office’s application to charge Barclays over its controversial 2008 raising of capital in Qatar, the agency has lost a long-running battle.

Last May, Southwark Crown Court dismissed the charges against the bank, only for the SFO to state it would be looking to reverse this decision by applying to the High Court to reinstate them. That has now failed. And, unsurprisingly, the SFO is tight-lipped following this defeat.