Barclays PLC

Stock Symbols
LSE
:
BARC
NYSE
:
BCS
company headquarters
UK
ISSUES

One of the largest banks in the world. It has been one of the main financial backers of private prison companies. In 2019, it announced that it would no longer extend funding to these companies; however, it is unclear whether it has upheld this commitment.

Barclays PLC is a multinational bank headquartered in London. In 2022, the company served 48 million customers across the U.S. and 49 other countries and generated over $31 billion in revenue. As of 2023, it is the eighteenth largest bank in the world based on total assets.

The bank was one of several major financiers of private prison and immigrant detention companies CoreCivic and GEO Group, having provided them with revolving lines of credit, term loans, and bond underwriting services. These loans were crucial for the companies' expansion over the years.

In 2019, following sustained campaigns targeting the major banks that finance CoreCivic and GEO Group, Barclays announced that it would no longer finance private prison companies. Eight additional banks made similar declarations the same year.

As a result, both CoreCivic and GEO Group signed new credit agreements. Unlike in previous years, the companies' disclosures to the Securities and Stock Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding these agreements only named the administrative agent, Alter Domus. While other lenders are also involved, they were not named. Therefore, it is unclear whether Barclays is still involved.

Financing War Profiteers

Barclays owns more than $1.2 billion in shares and has provided more than $3.6 billion in loans and underwriting to "nine companies whose weapons, components and military technology have been used in Israel's armed violence against Palestinians," according to a 2022 report by the Campaign Against Arms Trade, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and War on Want. These companies include BAE Systems, Boeing, Caterpillar, Elbit Systems, General Dynamics, QinetiQ, Raytheon Technologies, Rolls-Royce, and Ultra Electronics.

Past Financing of Private Prison Companies

For decades, Barclays and other financial institutions have extended loans and other credit agreements to CoreCivic and GEO Group. The two companies relied on these loans to finance their growth and expansion within the criminal punishment system.

In 2019, GEO Group entered into a new credit agreement that was initially set to expire in 2024. This agreement effectively replaced the company's 2014 credit facility of the same amount, consisting of a $900 million revolving line of credit and a $792 million term loan. As part of a syndicate of banks, Barclays served as a lender, contributing an undisclosed amount of money to the deal.

Barclays also served as an underwriter for the following CoreCivic bond offering:

  • April 2013: CoreCivic issued two sets of bonds—one totaling $325 million, with a maturity date of 2020, and the other totaling $350 million, with a maturity date of 2023. As part of a syndicate of banks, Barclays underwrote undisclosed amounts of both sets of bonds.

In 2021, Barclays also served as the lead underwriter of a $634 million bond sale that would provide financing for GEO Group to build new prisons in Alabama, despite the bank's 2019 announcement. Following public pressure, Barclays pulled out of the deal. The move caused the bond sale to fall apart and forced Alabama lawmakers to consider alternate funding for the project, including requesting federal funding from the American Rescue Plan. In July 2022, Alabama closed a $509 million bond deal—reportedly underwritten by two private financial services firms, Stephens Inc. and the Frazier Lanier Company—to help build two new state prisons.

Economic Activism Highlights
  • In April 2021, Barclays withdrew from its role as the lead underwriter of a $634 million bond sale that would finance prisons in Alabama that would be built and owned by GEO Group.
  • In July 2019, Barclays committed to not enter any new financing agreements with private prisons, joining Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Truist Financial (which, at the time, was known as SunTrust Banks), and other financial institutions that made similar commitments after facing pressure from activists.
Unless specified otherwise, the information in this page is valid as of
11 September 2023