Barclays: profiting from hunger
Barclays Capital's role in food speculation is driving up global food prices and leaving millions facing hunger and malnutrition. Barclays is the UK’s biggest player in food speculation and helps other financial players bet on hunger too.
Top UK player in food speculation
- Barclays is the UK banking sector’s market leader in food speculation and is the only UK bank that has any real presence in commodities trading. RBS has sold off its commodities division and HSBC is involved primarily in metal markets rather than food.
- Barclays' dominance in the commodities market is widely recognised within the financial industry itself: winning the Risk Magazine Award for Commodity and Energy Derivatives House of the Year for 2008, 2009 and 2011.
- It is estimated that Barclays could be making as much as £189 million a year from speculating on food. Barclays is also the leading European player in oil speculation which is driving up oil prices. Since oil is a key input in agricultural production, higher oil prices means higher costs of production and therefore rising food prices.
Global leader in food speculation
A report for WDM shows that Barclays Capital is one of the top three players in commodity markets in the world alongside Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Barclays’ website says:
Barclays Capital is acknowledged to be one of the top three players in the major commodity asset classes and remains at the forefront of the industry."
Helping others profit from hunger
Barclays Capital is also known in the financial industry for developing products which facilitate other financial players like pension funds to also bet on food prices. In this way it plays a key role in opening the door for others to flood these markets with speculative money, further driving up prices.