IBTimes
Barclays PLC, which is still mired in the Libor rate-rigging scandal, has prompted fresh criticism as allegations emerged that the huge British bank has been profiting handsomely from world hunger by betting on food crisis and helping to push prices up.
Barclays Capital, the investment arm of the bank (NYSE:BCS), reportedly made more than £500 million ($795 million) by speculating on food staples such as wheat and soya, while millions around the world face starvation, The Independent in London reported Saturday, citing research from the World Development Movement.
Barclays is the UK bank with the greatest involvement in food commodity trading and is one of the three biggest global players in that market, along with the U.S. banking giants Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), the research points out.
The revenue that Barclays and other banks make from trading in everything from wheat and corn to coffee and cocoa is expected to increase this year, with prices once again on the rise.
Last week, the Swiss trading giant Glencore International Plc (LON: GLEN) was attacked for describing the worst drought to hit the U.S. since the 1930s as “good for Glencore” because it will lead to opportunities to exploit soaring prices.
“They [Glencore] are millionaires making money from other people’s misery caused by the drought,” Raj Patel, an expert in the global food trade and former U.N. official, told the Guardian. “It’s unsurprising that a crisis is a revenue generator.”
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