Heads keep rolling: Barclays CEO resigns

Heads keep rolling: Barclays CEO resigns


Edited: 03 July, 2012, 16:47

LINK TO VIDEO:http://rt.com/business/news/barclays-ceo-resignation-scandal-270/


Barclays Chief Executive Bob Diamond has stepped down amid growing political and public pressure due to the interest rate fixing scandal.

­Diamond resigned as chief executive as well as a director at the bank with immediate effect, Barclay’s said. "The external pressure placed on Barclays has reached a level that risks damaging the franchise – I cannot let that happen," Diamond said in a statement.

Last week Barclay’s paid $450 million to settle an investigation by British and American regulators over the bank’s involvement in a conspiracy to rig interbank rates between 2005 and 2009.

Diamond was the second high-profile figure at Barclay’s, who became a victim of the rate fixing scandal. On Monday Barclay’s Chairman Marcus Agius resigned, saying the scandal dealt "a devastating blow" to the bank's reputation. But Agius is to stay in office as long as the search for a new chairman continued. He would also lead the search for a new chief executive.

"They lost their chairman Monday and they’ve lost their chief executive on Tuesday. So if I were a Barclay’s shareholder I would be worried. And I slightly suspect that some of the other banks are beginning to question – ok if we get caught at having done something wrong," Chris Roebuck from the Cass Business School in London told RT.

“I think in the next three months we would see in the next 3 months 20 chief executives of global banks having to resign,” adds Chris Roebuck.

Currently more than a dozen major banks such as America’s JPMorgan and Citigroup, Germany’s Deutsche Bank, Swiss UBS and Credit Suisse and British HSBC are under investigation into alleged rate manipulation.Meanwhile Barclay’s shares rebounded 4.56% after the reports on Diamond’s resignation. Last week Barclay’s saw its share fall 15% as the bank’s involvement in interest rate manipulation was revealed.

British Chancellor George Osborne welcomed the resignation of Diamond. "I think it's the right decision for Barclays, I think it's the right decision for the country because we need Barclays Bank focused on lending to our economy and not distracted by this argument about who should be in charge," Osborne told the BBC.

Calls for Barclays CEO resignation crash bank’s shares

28 June, 2012, 15:41



UK major Barclays Bank saw its shares plummeted by 8% in late morning trading after it paid a $450 million fine after being found guilty of market manipulation. It has brought calls for the resignation of Barclays CEO Bob Diamond.
­Investors rushed to sell Barclays shares worried about changes in the Barclay’s board, and possible exposure in the inquiry into the banking sector.
On Wednesday, US and British regulators imposed the fines on Barclays for providing false figures on borrowing rates between 2005 and 2009, which affected hundreds of trillions of dollars of transactions, including bank-to-bank loans. The regulators also said Barclays tried to fix the rates as it was worried about its public image during the 2008 financial crisis.
The allegation over rigging the markets is a blow to Barclay’s reputation and resulted in calls for the management team to quit. The British PM David Cameron said: "I think the whole management team has got some serious questions to answer. Let them answer those questions first."
Meanwhile the Labour leader Ed Miliband called for a criminal investigation into the manipulation the interest rates. The UK Chancellor, George Osborne, is going to make a statement on the inquiry later on Thursday.
Diamond as well as three other top bank executives has already agreed to give up bonuses this year, citing their “collective responsibility as leaders.” Diamond received a £2.7 million bonus last year despite outrage over high payments despite weak financial results from the bank.
Barclay’s stocks fallout in London has weighed down shares of other banks such as Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, as investors become concerned about the involvement of other major banks in the rate fixing scandal.