Financial Times- Several of London’s largest hedge funds are backing Barclays’ £4.5bn ($8.9bn) capital increase, underscoring the complex roles they are playing in the recapitalisation of the UK banking sector.

GLG Partners, Lansdowne, CQS and Och-Ziff have all agreed to take up a large chunk of Barclays shares as part of its £1.7bn placing with institutional shareholders, according to the prospectus issued by the bank on Thursday.

The news comes after hedge funds have been under intense scrutiny for their actions in selling short the shares of banks attempting to raise capital through rights issues. The Financial Services Authority unexpectedly tightened its rules on the disclosure of short-selling in an attempt to stamp out what the regulator believes were attempts by hedge funds to force down banks’ share prices artificially.

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