Britain charged on Monday Barclays’ operating subsidiary with granting Qatari investors with an illegal loan. The loan was used to prop up its shares during the banking crisis, announced Britain’s Serious Fraud Office. “The charges relate to financial assistance Barclays Bank Plc gave to Qatar Holding LLC between 1 October and 30 November 2008, which was in the form of a $3 billion loan for the purpose of directly or indirectly acquiring shares in Barclays Plc,” the SFO said in a statement. Barclays denies the SFO’s allegation that the $3 billion loan it made to Qatar in November 2008 was connected with a Qatari investment in the British bank which ultimately helped it avoid a British government rescue, unlike its rivals Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland. Qatar, which is a major investor in Britain with real estate and other assets, has not been accused of wrongdoing itself, but public companies in Britain are normally prohibited from lending money for the purchase of their own shares, known as “financial assistance”. The SFO had leveled the same charge against the bank’s holding company last June, but it is the operating unit Barclays Bank PLC that is licensed for banking operations, meaning any conviction could also prompt sanctions from regulators. Barclays said in a statement that Barclays PLC and its operating arm intend to defend the respective charges against them, and it did not expect “an impact on its ability to serve its customers and clients as a consequence of the charge”. The SFO declined to comment on the timing of the charges, but authorities can only file charges if the evidence is sufficient for a “realistic prospect of conviction” and if such a prosecution is in the public interest. “(This move) signals a belief on the part of the SFO that they can evidence an unlawful intention in the actions of the officers of the bank when they entered into the loan arrangements,” Michael Potts, a partner at law firm Byrne and Partners, said. “The defenses to this offence are quite narrow and the SFO may believe that the bank will struggle to identify and prove a good faith purpose,” he said. The SFO, which opened its inquiry into Barclays in 2012, said a date had not yet been set for the first court appearance.