What Is the Barclays Settlement and How Can You Claim?

The Barclays settlement is actually two separate proceedings arising from the same conduct, and only one is still open to new claims. The larger is a $200 million Barclays Fair Fund administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is accepting claims through January 31, 2026 from investors who bought Barclays American Depositary Receipts or ordinary shares between June 26, 2019 and March 27, 2022. The smaller was a $19.5 million private class action that closed to claims in March 2025. If you held qualifying Barclays securities during the relevant window and have not filed, the Fair Fund is the claim to prioritize.

What Barclays Did

Barclays Bank PLC lost its status as a “well-known seasoned issuer” after a 2017 SEC enforcement action. That status had let Barclays register and sell securities with streamlined paperwork. Once revoked, Barclays needed to track how many securities it was actually selling against the limited amount it had registered, and it never built the internal controls to do that tracking in real time.¹

Between June 2019 and March 2022, Barclays offered and sold roughly $17.7 billion in securities beyond what it had registered, violating federal securities laws.² When the over-issuance became public in March 2022, the stock dropped. Two legal tracks followed: an SEC enforcement action that produced the $200 million Fair Fund, and a private class action alleging that Barclays executives made false statements about the company’s internal controls.

The $200 Million Barclays Fair Fund

The Fair Fund is the broader and still-open proceeding. The SEC ordered Barclays to pay a $200 million civil penalty, which was placed into a Fair Fund to compensate harmed investors.¹ Because this is an SEC administrative proceeding rather than a class action, there is no opt-out step and no release of your other legal rights when you file. You either submit a claim or you don’t.

Who Is Eligible

You may be eligible if you purchased or acquired Barclays American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) traded on the New York Stock Exchange, or Barclays ordinary shares traded on the London Stock Exchange, between June 26, 2019 and March 27, 2022 (both dates inclusive).³

Certain people are excluded regardless of their trading activity:

Current or former Barclays officers, directors, and their immediate family members or controlled entities
Employees terminated for cause in connection with the over-issuance, or employees who resigned over it
Anyone facing criminal charges related to the conduct in the SEC order
The Fund Administrator and anyone assisting in fund administration
Anyone who purchased another person’s right to recover from the Fair Fund (people who received that right through a gift or inheritance are not excluded)³

Other Barclays products are not covered. The SEC’s distribution plan limits recovery to ADRs and ordinary shares. Structured notes, exchange-traded notes such as Barclays VXX, and other instruments are not eligible.

The Filing Deadline

The deadline to file with the Barclays Fair Fund is January 31, 2026. Online claims must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. PST on that date. Mailed claims must be postmarked on or before January 31, 2026.³ Missing the deadline means forfeiting your share entirely.

How to File a Claim

You can file through the online portal at barclaysfairfund.com or mail a completed Proof of Claim form to Barclays Fair Fund c/o KCC Class Action Services, P.O. Box 301175, Los Angeles, CA 90030-1175.³

You will need transaction records showing when you bought and sold Barclays ADRs or ordinary shares during the relevant period. Brokerage statements and trade confirmations are the most useful documents. You will also need your taxpayer identification number. Non-U.S. investors who lack a U.S. TIN may need to submit a W-8BEN form to establish their tax status and avoid the default 30% withholding rate on U.S.-source payments. Online filing gives you immediate confirmation. If you mail the form, certified mail with a return receipt is worth the small extra cost as proof of timely submission.

How Payments Are Calculated

The Fund Administrator calculates a “Recognized Loss” for each qualifying transaction using a formula tied to the artificial inflation in Barclays’ share price on your purchase and sale dates. The calculation depends on when you sold, or whether you still held the shares after March 27, 2022:

Sold before March 27, 2022: your recognized loss is the smaller of the inflation differential between purchase and sale dates, or your actual dollar loss.
Sold during the lookback period (March 28 through June 24, 2022): your recognized loss is the smallest of the inflation on your purchase date, your actual dollar loss, or the difference between your purchase price and a moving average closing price.
Still held after June 24, 2022: your recognized loss is the smaller of the inflation on your purchase date or the difference between your purchase price and the average closing price during the lookback period.⁴

If a calculation produces a gain, your recognized loss is zero for that transaction. If your total recognized loss across all transactions nets to a gain, you receive nothing. Payments within each security type are pro rata: your share equals your recognized loss divided by total recognized losses for that security type, multiplied by the available funds.⁴ ADR holders are paid first; ordinary share holders receive distributions from any remainder.³

There is a $25 minimum distribution threshold for each security type. If your calculated payment for ADRs or ordinary shares falls below $25, you will not receive a distribution for that security, and your share gets redistributed.³

The $19.5 Million Class Action Is Closed

A separate class action, In re Barclays PLC Securities Litigation, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It alleged that Barclays and several executives made false and misleading statements about the company’s internal controls over financial reporting, artificially inflating the price of Barclays American Depositary Shares until corrective disclosures began in March 2022.⁵

The parties reached a $19.5 million settlement covering purchasers of Barclays ADS during a class period of February 18, 2021 through February 14, 2023.⁶ The claim filing deadline was March 13, 2025. That settlement is now closed. If you did not file by the March 2025 deadline, you cannot participate in this recovery. Investors who did not opt out by the February 2025 deadline are bound by the release and cannot pursue separate litigation against Barclays over the same allegations.

Which Proceeding Applies to You

The two proceedings overlap in time but cover different theories of harm and different securities. Some investors were eligible for both.

Fair Fund only: If you bought Barclays ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange between June 2019 and March 2022, the Fair Fund is your only path. The class action covered only ADS traded in the U.S.
Both proceedings: If you bought Barclays ADS on the NYSE between February 18, 2021 and March 27, 2022, your purchases fell within both windows. You could have filed in both.
Class action only, and now closed: If you bought ADS between March 28, 2022 and February 14, 2023, you were inside the class action’s class period but outside the Fair Fund’s relevant period.

The Fair Fund’s January 31, 2026 deadline is the only remaining actionable date.

Filing for a Deceased Investor or an Estate

If someone who held qualifying Barclays securities during the relevant period has since died, an executor or estate representative can file on their behalf. The Fair Fund’s exclusion list preserves the rights of people who received a claim right through inheritance or gift. You will generally need the same transaction documentation any claimant provides, plus proof of your authority to act for the estate, such as letters testamentary or a court order appointing you as personal representative. Fees for certified copies of estate authorization documents vary by jurisdiction but are typically modest.

Tax Treatment of a Fair Fund Payment

Settlement payments for investment losses are not automatically tax-free. Under federal tax law, the general rule is that all income is taxable unless a specific exclusion applies. The Internal Revenue Code excludes certain recoveries related to physical injuries, but that exclusion does not cover securities fraud settlements.⁷

The practical outcome depends on the character of your payment. If the distribution compensates you for a loss you already claimed as a capital loss on a prior return, the payment may be taxable as a recovery of that deduction. If you never claimed the loss, the payment may reduce your cost basis or be treated as a return of capital up to the amount of your original investment. The settlement administrator will report distributions to the IRS, which is why you provide a taxpayer identification number with your claim. A tax professional is worth consulting on larger claims, where characterization meaningfully affects your liability.

1
Securities and Exchange Commission. Barclays Agrees to a $361 Million Settlement to Resolve SEC Charges
2
Securities and Exchange Commission. Notice of Proposed Plan of Distribution and Opportunity for Comment – Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC
3
Securities and Exchange Commission. In the Matter of Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC – Proof of Claim Form
4
Securities and Exchange Commission. Notice of Proposed Plan of Distribution – Barclays PLC and Barclays Bank PLC
5
Justia. In re Barclays PLC Securities Litigation – Amended Class Action Complaint
6
Justia. In re Barclays PLC Securities Litigation – Final Judgment
7
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Implications of Settlements and Judgments