- Title: BARCLAYS-MOVES/CEO Barclays CEO axed to speed up change
- Date: 8th July 2015
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (JULY 8, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BARCLAYS EXTERIORS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARKET ANALYST AT IG, CHRIS BEAUCHAMP, SAYING: "I think his failure lay in really cutting down on that sort of investment bank culture that had been so heavily fostered by Bob Diamond in his years at Barclays. It takes many years to instill that and then many years to root that
- Embargoed: 23rd July 2015 13:00
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- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA8DTPZK6MH2KCLPTLZNMDIOZJJ
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- Story Text: Barclays Chairman announced on Wednesday (July 8) the British bank has fired its chief executive after he lost the support of non-executive directors in a clash over style and the pace of the bank's turnaround.
Chairman John McFarlane had signalled his intention to speed up the bank's turnaround efforts when he took the post in April. He will assume executive duties until a permanent successor is appointed.
Antony Jenkins' ousting from the top job three years after he was brought in to clean up the British lender came as a shock, says IG's Chris Beauchamp.
"We had expected him to stay for quite some time, he had a long mandate to stay to reform the bank, to slim down investment banking, to put a more human face on Barclays if you like, but this departure certainly marks a radical change, it seems that the board have finally decided that he wasn't making the necessary changes, particularly in cost cutting, where he promised to make those efforts" Beauchamp said.
The move came just weeks after John McFarlane became chairman.
Jenkins was nicknamed "Saint Antony" for his drive to clean up the group's culture after an interest rate-fixing scandal. His understated approach, in contract to the brash style of his predecessor Bob Diamond, rubbed board members up the wrong way.
Shares in the bank jumped more than three percent on the news of the firing, with investors pleased at the prospect of a speedier turnaround plan.
But according to Beauchamp, the bank's structure is a concern.
"I think his failure lay in really cutting down on that sort of investment bank culture that had been so heavily fostered by Bob Diamond in his years at Barclays. It takes many years to instill that and then many years to root that one out. And Antony Jenkins never went quite as far as he would actually have liked to have done in actually getting rid of that," he said.
Jenkins' exit will be soothed with a payoff of more than 2 million pounds ($3 million), confirmed at a board meeting late on Tuesday (July 7). - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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