Barclays said Rake came forward and represented the bank’s board of non-executive directors, telling McFarlane that new leadership was needed at the bank to accelerate the pace of execution going forward.
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It said John McFarlane was ideally qualified to take over until a permanent successor to Jenkins was appointed.
Barclays PLC fired chief executive Antony Jenkins on Wednesday, July 8, 2015, concluding he wasn’t moving quickly enough to put past scandals behind the bank and increase profits.
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The chairman paid tribute to Jenkins for his “brilliant” handling of Barclays as it recovered from the financial crisis, praising the way he went about changing the bank’s culture. Last month, the co-CEOs of German rival Deutsche Bank AG resigned, also amid questions about its turnaround plans.
Henderson Global Investors income fund manager David Smith has backed Barclays’ shock decision to fire Antony Jenkins.
‘[More specifically] within the investment bank the company are moving away from the structurally challenged FICC business towards less capital intensive businesses, ‘ Smith said.
Jenkins said he was very proud of the significant progress the bank has made since 2012 when he took over as the chief executive.
However, Barclays PLC continued to be dogged by the sins of its past.
This morning the bank revealed in a statement that Jenkins, who had been CEO since 2012, has stepped down.
Returns in the investment bank were just 2.7 per cent in 2014, well short of its target of 12 per cent, although the bank says this was artificially low due to the impact of deferred pay from past years, conduct and legal costs and restructuring charges.
“We therefore need to improve revenue, costs and capital performance”, he added.
In a statement, Barclays deputy chairman Sir Michael Rake said he had “reflected long and hard on the issue of group leadership”.
Antony Jenkins, the straight-laced ethics champion boss of Barclays, has been sacked by the board following a bust-up over strategy.
Members of the Group Executive Committee will now report to Mr McFarlane, who will work particularly closely with Tushar Morzaria, Group Finance Director.
Rumblings from the bank’s nonexecutive directors about a need for a new CEO reached a high pitch at an annual off- site board meeting two weeks ago, Mr. McFarlane said Wednesday.
But Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Mr Jenkins’s lack of investment banking experience may have proved a factor in today’s announcement, with a more rounded leader now required”.
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“I think John McFarlane is an outstanding professional and I have thought that for many years”.
