A British businesswoman, known for her connections in the Middle East, is suing Barclays in London.

Barclays said it would be “rigorously defending” a lawsuit from Amanda Staveley's firm PCP Capital Partners over the bank's emergency multi-billion pound fundraising from Middle Eastern investors during the 2008 financial crisis. The lawsuit is reportedly for nearly £1 billion ($1.4 billion).

“We believe the claim against Barclays is misconceived and without merit and Barclays will be vigorously defending it,” Barclays said in a statement.

The bank avoided a government bailout during the crisis after securing investments from the Middle East. The Financial Times reported that PCP invested £3.5 billion in Barclays on behalf of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2008 and that the bank also turned to Qatari investors.

Barclays has for some years been under scrutiny from UK and US authorities over its dealings with Gulf investors at the time of the emergency fundraising. In 2012, the Serious Fraud Office launched an investigation into payments made under commercial agreements between the bank and Qatar Holding, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority.

In November last year, Barclays was fined £72 million by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority for failing to conduct sufficient checks on ultra-high net worth clients.