LONDON: Barclays on Tuesday ramped up the size of costs it expects to face over its alleged role in the rigging of foreign exchange markets, tipping the troubled lender into a loss last year.
It has set aside £1.25 billion ($1.92 billion, 1.72 billion euros) "for ongoing investigations and litigation relating to foreign exchange", including £750 million for the final quarter of 2014, the bank said in an earnings statement.
Barclays had announced in October a provision of £500 million for any eventual costs and fines linked to the probes.
The latest announcement from Barclays -- which was at the heart also of the 2012 Libor interbank interest-rate rigging scandal -- comes as global regulators investigate the alleged rigging of foreign exchange (forex) markets around the world.
In Britain, watchdogs the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have launched probes into the alleged manipulation of the £3-trillion-a-day forex market.
"We remain focussed on addressing outstanding conduct issues, including those relating to foreign exchange trading," chief executive Antony Jenkins said in Tuesday's results statement.
"I regard the behaviour at the centre of these investigations as wholly incompatible with our values, and I share the frustration of colleagues and shareholders that matters like these continue to cast a shadow over our business."
An internal probe by the Bank of England meanwhile revealed a "series of misjudgements" by a senior member of staff, including the leaking of a confidential document and sending of inappropriate emails, governor Mark Carney told a cross-party panel of lawmakers on Tuesday.
The BoE's chief currency dealer Martin Mallett was sacked after being found to have made at least 20 such errors, following a probe into what the BoE knew about the forex scandal, Carney said.
"In my judgement, there are serious errors of judgement by Mr Mallett that are uncovered," Carney told the Treasury Select Committee.
Mallett's dismissal was announced in November on the same day six banks caught up in the forex scandal announced a deal to pay a combined $4.25 billion in fines to settle with financial regulators in Washington and Britain. The banks comprised JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and HSBC.
Barclays, which has been plagued by scandals in recent years, added Tuesday that it had set aside another £200 million in the fourth quarter for compensation costs arising from the mis-selling of payment protection insurance.
Barclays reported a loss after tax of £174 million for 2014 compared with a net profit of £540 million the previous year.
The bank added that adjusted pre-tax profit -- after stripping out charges and other exceptional items -- rose 12 percent to £5.5 billion in 2014.
Its share price was among the biggest fallers on London's benchmark FTSE 100, losing 2.17 percent in late afternoon deals, while the FTSE was down 0.40 percent.
"Investors remain focused on the fallout of Barclays' forex misbehaviour rather than its (pre-tax) profit growth," said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex trading group.
Jenkins launched plans in May to shrink Barclays' investment bank in a radical restructuring which will axe 19,000 jobs across the group by 2016, as he shakes up the scandal-tainted company.
He won a bonus of £1.1 million for last year, his first since becoming chief executive in 2012, which brought his overall package, including base salary and other one-off payments to £5.5 million.
The bank cut the total bonus pot awarded to staff by about a fifth to £1.86 billion.
"Based on the solid 2014 overall performance, and in particular the considerable progress made against the group strategy, we regard these bonuses as appropriate and deserved," said John Sunderland, chairman of Barclays' remuneration committee.
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