Barclays’ former chief executive John Varley was acquitted of conspiracy to commit fraud on Friday.

The Court of Appeal declined an application by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to overturn the original decision, which concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge Mr Varley.

The appeal was upheld against three defendants, Roger Jenkins, Tom Kalaris and Richard Boath, who will now face a retrial.

Lord Justice Gross, who sat at the appeal case, said: “Following an application by Mr Varley at the close of the prosecution case, the trial judge ruled that the evidence against him on each count was insufficient for the case to proceed. The appeal was dismissed by the court of appeal … Accordingly, Mr Varley has been acquitted on both counts.”

He continued: “The other defendants will be retried at a date to be determined.”

The case relates to an investigation by the SFO into a loan given to Qatar back in 2008.

The loan meant that the bank avoided having to be bailed out by the government at the height of the global financial crisis.

Since then, Barclays have grappled with a series of fines and penalties relating to failings regarding PPI and alongside an attempt to name a whistleblower.

It was eventually fined $15 million by a New York regulator following measures taken CEO Jes Staley to unmask the whistleblower.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also fined Staley £642,430 over the failings.

Shares in the British bank (LON:BARC) are currently +0.04% as of 13:12PM (GMT).