03.08.2012
By Simon Miller
Barclays has failed in its attempt to delay a court case over its alleged mis-selling of interest rate swaps.
At the Birmingham Mercantile Court, Judge Simon Brown QC rejected Barclays request to have the mis-selling claim brought by care home operator Guardian Care Homes delayed until the claim had been investigated as part of a Financial Services Authority (FSA) compensation scheme.
Calling the request an "impossible argument", Brown ordered the bank to file a defence by the end of next week.
Brown added: "We just do not know if the scheme will include the claimants, or even know who is a skilled person. Some cases need to be litigated and I have a duty to decide which."
The case comes on the back of of an investigation by the FSA into mis-selling of complex interest rate hedging products which saw Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS agree to compensate affected small-to-medium business customers.
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