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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Barclays CEO, COO step down as trading scandal roils
Bob Diamond: Barclays� latest loss (CP)
LONDON -- Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond quit his job Tuesday, the biggest scalp in a financial-markets scandal that has also seen the chairman announce his intention to resign and sown the seeds for another investigation into Britain's banking sector.
Jerry del Missier, appointed only last month as chief operating officer at the bank, resigned hours after Diamond left.
The resignations, which took effect immediately, come a day after chairman Marcus Agius fell on his sword, too. However, Agius will leave the company only after a new chairman is found and will lead the search for a new chief executive. He will take on Diamond's responsibilities until a new CEO is appointed.
Barclays' management has come under fire since the bank was fined $453 million last week by U.S. and British regulators for submitting false reports on interbank borrowing rates between 2005 and 2009. Much of that activity originated from traders in Barclays Capital, the investment banking division which Diamond headed at the time.
"The external pressure placed on Barclays has reached a level that risks damaging the franchise -- I cannot let that happen," Diamond said Tuesday in the statement accompanying his resignation. "I am deeply disappointed that the impression created by the events announced last week about what Barclays and its people stand for could not be further from the truth."
Britain's Serious Fraud Office said Monday it would decide within a month whether to pursue criminal charges in the case. The government, which has come under pressure to initiate a judge-led inquiry into the sector, also announced a parliamentary committee to investigate what went on and report by the end of the year.
Barclays' share price was up 1.2 per cent at 170.4 pence in midafternoon London trading, retreating from earlier highs.
"Although Diamond's resignation should take some of the ferocity out of the intense criticism heaped on Barclays, there is little doubt that the risk of holding the stock has risen substantially in recent days," said Nic Clarke, an analyst at Charles Stanley. "A cloud is likely to hang over the stock until a suitable successor is chosen."
As well as facing intense media pressure over the past few days, Diamond has seen growing calls for his resignation from the political world. Both Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband had called for Diamond, a 60-year-old American, to stand down.
-- The Associated Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 4, 2012 B3
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