Barclays shares slide as bank faces US lawsuit

LONDON, June 26 (AFP): Shares in Barclays slid five per cent in trading on Thursday after New York prosecutors sued the British bank for fraud -- the latest blow to hit the scandal-hit company.

Barclays was down 5.04 per cent at 218.42 pence on London's FTSE 100 index, which was up 0.02 per cent to 6,735.18 points in mid-morning deals.

Prosecutors on Wednesday said Barclays had promised clients that it would protect them from aggressive high-speed trading firms in so-called 'dark pools', but at the same time took steps that benefited these firms.

"The facts alleged in our complaint show that Barclays demonstrated a disturbing disregard for its investors in a systematic pattern of fraud and deceit," Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on Wednesday.

A Barclays spokesman said the bank was cooperating with Schneiderman, the top prosecutor for New York state.

"We take these allegations very seriously," he added.

The suit comes amid criticism that high-frequency traders skim profits from clients who order a stock at one price, only to end up paying more than the quoted amount. This is after the high-frequency firm pushes up the price through a series of lightening-quick transactions.