Barclays sets aside $805 million over alleged rigging of foreign exchange markets

Barclays, Britain's second biggest bank by assets, set aside 500 million pounds ($805 million) to cover possible penalties amid international probes into the alleged rigging of foreign exchange markets.

The provision signals ongoing troubles for the bank, which is trying to overhaul its corporate culture after a string of scandals, including its involvement in the rigging of the LIBOR interest rate.

The bank said Thursday that adjusted pretax profit for the third quarter rose 15 percent to 1.59 billion pounds, beating analyst estimates.

CEO Antony Jenkins says the investment bank's performance was disappointing, but Barclays has "been able to offset that within the rebalanced group and still deliver good core performance."

Some analysts were nonetheless optimistic. Richard Hunter of Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers says Barclays' recovery is "starting to get traction."