By Michael Szabo and Ben Garside
LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Barclays has settled alawsuit with London trading firm CF Partners after a judge foundthat the British bank had misused confidential informationduring its acquisition of a Swedish carbon trading company.
The ruling comes the same week Barclays was hit with acombined $77 million in fines from British and U.S. regulatorsas the lender continues to be dogged by problems from its past.
Barclays is trying to improve standards and its corporateculture after being rocked by a series of scandals -- includingthe mis-selling of loan insurance and the attempted manipulationof Libor interest rate.
CF Partners approached Barclays in 2008 for advice on debtfinancing for its plan to buy the Swedish firm Tricorona AB.
CF Partners said it gave Barclays confidential informationabout Tricorona's potential value and signed a confidentialityagreement with the bank.
Barclays then bought Tricorona itself in 2010. The bank saidCF Partners had abandoned its acquisition attempt during 2008after carbon credit prices plummeted.
CF Partners, however, argued it had only temporarily delayedits plan and demanded compensation of 96 million euros fromBarclays. It launched the lawsuit against Barclays in 2012.
High court judge Robert Hildyard ruled that both Barclaysand Tricorona had misused the confidential information providedby CF Partners to establish their own "strategic partnership".
He ruled, however, that Barclays had not breached anyexclusivity clauses by buying Tricorona.
Barclays has agreed to pay CF Partners 10 million euros($12.7 million) to settle the case.
"In order to put the matter behind them and bring to aresolution outstanding matters including costs and appeals, CFPartners UK LLP, Barclays Bank plc and Bryggpipan AB ilikvidation, formerly known as Tricorona AB, have settled thelegal proceedings between them on mutually acceptable terms,"the firms said on Thursday in a joint emailed statement.
Under the settlement, all the firms and individuals involvedagreed not to comment further.
Hildyard said Harshika Patel, who was Barclays' head ofenvironmental market product and business development at thetime of the Tricorona acquisition, had acted as "something of alaw unto herself".
He said evidence presented during the trial showed thatPatel was "unreliable", exhibited "disingenuous conduct" and"demonstrated a capacity, perhaps a tendency, for manipulativeconduct and occasional indifference to propriety".
According to her LinkedIn profile, Patel is now managingdirector and head of commodities Asia, sales and structuring atJPMorgan Chase.
Attempts to reach her for comment were unsuccessful. (Editing by David Clarke)
Barclays (BARC)