Barclays’ tax avoidance division generated £1bn annually

BARCLAYS’ CONTROVERSIAL tax avoidance division brought in approximately £1bn per year in the years between 2007 and 2010, according to data in a review of the beleaguered bank’s culture.

The assessment, produced by City lawyer Anthony Salz and commissioned by Barclays, comes in the wake of the Libor-rigging scandal and showed that in the 11 years to 2011 the structured capital markets arm generated revenue of more than £9.5bn, the Guardian reports.

Profits were not published, but former conservative chancellor Lord Lawson – who sits on the parliamentary commission for banking standards – accused the division of engaging in “industrial-scale tax avoidance”.

In February, new chief executive Antony Jenkins announced the closure of the department as part of an extensive strategic review of the business, although Salz found the 100 staff in the arm have been redeployed throughout the bank instead of losing their jobs.

Salz’s review also revealed Barclays paid just £82m in corporation tax in 2012 after top line profits plummeted to £246m from £7bn following an accounting standard relating to how it values its own debt.

Barclays has also faced fierce criticism for its admission that it paid just £113m in corporation tax in 2009.