A Spanish court has order Barclays bank to pay £748 trillion in compensation to the former owner of a Spanish bank it acquired 25 years ago.
The award, £748,000,000,000,000 or €1.1 quadrillion, came from a Madrid court in connection with money allegedly owed to Domingo Lopez Alonso, the former owner of Banco de Valladolid. Alonso sold his majority share in Banco de Valladolid to the forerunner of the Deposit Guarantee Fund as part of a restructuring plan designed to bail the bank out. He sued for damages, complaining he was cheated, according to a report in the Financial Times.
No doubt stifling laughter, Barclays made clear it would not bear the burden of any final settlement awarded. In a statement, the Spanish subsidiary of Barclays said since the case dates back to before Barclays took over Banco de Valladolid in 1981 it has nothing to do with Barclays. Rather, Barclays argues it would be Spain’s state-run Deposit Guarantee Fund that would take responsibility for any compensation payment eventually made.
Additionally, Spanish court officials are investigating whether or not the payout information is legitimate, or if a clerical error was to blame.