Barclays bank has chosen Antony Jenkins as new Chief Executive

Former head of retail and business aims to restore the bank’s reputation...

15:04 30 August 2012

Barclays has appointed Antony Jenkins to replace Bob Diamond, who resigned in July, following the bank’s attempts to fix Libor interest rates.

 

The news comes shortly after the banking giant revealed on Wednesday they would be investigated in a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) inquiry.

 

Jenkins is perceived by many as being a safe option in restoring Barclay’s image after their recent public criticisms, as they were fined £290m for the Libor scandal.

 

It is understood the SFO will look at payments made since interfering with Middle Eastern funds from around four years previously.

 

Jenkins believes Barclays has many assets, talented staff and long-standing clients and customers.

 

“But we have made serious mistakes in recent years and clearly failed to keep pace with our stakeholders' expectations,” he told The Guardian.

 

Jenkins said on Thursday, as quoted by The Telegraph: "We have an obligation to all of those stakeholders - customers, clients, shareholders, colleagues and broader society - and a unique opportunity to restore Barclay’s reputation by making it the go "go to" bank in all of our chosen markets."

 

Details of Jenkins salary have been released by Barclays, with a basic pay of £1.1m and an opportunity to earn up to almost eight times this amount.

 

Investec analysts told The Guardian: "Given these investigations an external candidate may have been better for Barclays, though with a change of both chairman and CEO the continuity of an internal candidate has some benefits too."

 

It is believed the new Chief Executive fought off competition from the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Chief Stephen Hester.

 

Jenkins has worked within Barclay’s executive committee for three years having nearly thirty years with the bank.