A senior member of the Barclay family is facing a new front in his battle against creditors as Luxembourg bankers bid to prise open secretive offshore trusts and companies.<\/p>\n
Deutsche Bank Luxembourg on Friday issued a new High Court claim against Alistair Barclay, 36, the youngest son of Sir David Barclay \u2013 the former joint-owner of The Telegraph \u2013 who died in 2021.<\/p>\n
High Court filings seen by this newspaper lists as a co-defendant Vauvert Administration LBG, a Guernsey company which is trustee to two trusts in Alistair\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
It also names as a co-defendant LW Group Ltd, a company registered in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.<\/p>\n
All three defendants are listed as litigants in person, meaning they are currently unrepresented by lawyers. Deutsche is using the City firm Pinsent Masons.<\/p>\n
LW Group is part of a notoriously complex web of Barclay family companies and trusts that once controlled a multibillion-pound empire including The Telegraph, the online retailer Very, the parcel deliverer Yodel and a host of luxury hotels.<\/p>\n
Alistair, co-founder of the online estate agent Yopa and a motor racing driver, and his older half-brothers Aidan and Howard, inherited sway over the family business from Sir David \u2013 along with a bitter dispute with his twin brother Sir Frederick. The brothers and their uncle have overseen its total implosion under heavy debts in recent years.<\/p>\n Deutsche\u2019s latest action against Alistair, the trustee of his trusts and LW Group Ltd comes alongside bankruptcy proceedings, filed at the High Court in September. In that battle he is represented by Osborne Clark, according to court documents.<\/p>\n Deutsche Bank Luxembourg is the second private bank involved in bankruptcy proceedings with Alistair in two years. In 2024, Investec\u2019s private bank issued a petition over an allegedly overdue loan of \u00a31m, which was eventually settled out of court.<\/p>\n The lender hired investigators to track down Alistair, claiming had been \u201cactively avoiding\u201d service of its claim. He was found living in a Monaco seafront tower block called Le Roccabella. Investec claimed Mr Barclay had moved to the Mediterranean microstate after selling a grand townhouse in Chester Square, Belgravia.<\/p>\n In documents filed with the High Court, the bank also alleged that one of the reasons Alistair was in default is that he had failed to refinance \u00a322.5m in separate personal borrowing from Deutsche.<\/p>\n The German lender did not comment on Investec\u2019s bankruptcy petition and last night declined to comment on the proceedings it is involved with, or on its new claim targeting Alistair, his offshore trustee and the Barclay family\u2019s LW Group Ltd in the British Virgin Islands. The parallel action has been filed in Commercial Court, where alleged breaches of contract are considered.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Aidan, 70, and Howard, 57, are facing their own battles with personal bankruptcy in a petition brought by HSBC and revealed at the turn of the year. It relates to the collapse of Yodel and related companies, which left the lender seeking to recover \u00a3140m on loans on which they had allegedly given personal guarantees.<\/p>\n The family and their businesses had been labouring under heavy debts for some years when the scale of their financial troubles was first laid bare in June 2023. Lloyds Banking Group seized control of The Telegraph by sending in receivers, over debts of \u00a31.2bn which were a decade overdue and secured against this newspaper.<\/p>\n They repaid that debt in full after agreeing a deal to steer control of The Telegraph into the hands of RedBird IMI, a vehicle majority funded by the UAE.<\/p>\n The manoeuvre was derailed by a cross-party outcry over press freedom and cast this newspaper into a damaging limbo lasting more than two-and-a-half years to date. It also prevented the start of a court case in the British Virgin Islands which threatened to drag more of the Barclay family\u2019s offshore family affairs into the open.<\/p>\n Representatives for Alistair Barclay were contacted for comment.<\/p>\n Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>