Barclays 'error' hits ABN bid

Barclays faces a struggle to win the battle for ABN Amro, its Dutch rival, after its shares continued to dip. Last week the bank was forced to borrow £1.6bn from the Bank of England after a "technical error" meant it could not settle its trades through the Crest system. That triggered a share price fall, which makes its paper-heavy offer for ABN less valuable. RBS, which is also bidding, made a higher offer which is 93 per cent cash.