[JURIST] British-based bank Barclays PLC [corporate website] announced [press release, PDF] Friday that it has reached an agreement with Enron [corporate website; JURIST news archive] to settle litigation in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York [official website; case documents] relating to Enron’s bankruptcy estate. Barclays has agreed to pay Enron $144 million in the settlement, which discharges all claims by Enron against Barclays in respect of the bank's alleged assistance in developing financial structures that hid the state of Enron's earnings and helped propel the company's collapse. Barclays is still entitled to pursue claims of its own against Enron totaling $310 million in respect of lost loans and other damages. Barclays denies any wrongdoing in the case and claims to have settled with Enron because it is “preferable to the time, expense, and unpredictability of litigation.”

Barclays is one of several banks that have been accused of engaging in fraudulent financial transactions [JURIST report] to assist Enron in hiding its fiscal distress. AP has more.