Barclays Ends Food Speculation

LONDONBarclays PLC chief executive officer Anthony Jenkins announced the bank would stop speculating on food, as campaigners call for tougher regulations to prevent speculation that fuels price spikes, contributing to the global hunger crisis. 

Jenkins announced the U.K. bank will stop speculative trading in agricultural commodities such as coffee, cocoa, pork, wheat, corn and soybeans.  World Development Movement, London, an anti-poverty campaign group says Barclays made up to £500 million speculating on food in 2010 and 2011. The group says speculations by banks amplified food price surges during that period and Barclays was the largest U.K. bank participating in such trades. Jenkins said now the practice is not compatible with our purpose."

The bank did not announce whether or not it would continue to broker these types of deals for its clients. Jenkins has actively been pursuing changes in Barclays practices overall to build a socially useful" bank and shred situations where were short-termist, too aggressive and too self-centered."

So far there is no announcement about the banks other speculative ventures into commodities outside of the food industry such as oil. Among major global banks, others such as Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley actively trade or are considering speculative trading in the food market.