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The chances are high that Barclays (BCS) will appoint an external candidate unsullied by the...

The chances are high that Barclays (BCS) will appoint an external candidate unsullied by the Libor affair as its new CEO, the WSJ reports. Names being bandied about include former JPMorgan exec William Winters and Australia & New Zealand Bank CEO Michael Smith. Internally, Antony Jenkins and Naguib Kheraj are in the running. Meanwhile, separating the investment bank can' be dismissed.
Comments (3)
  • Nice to read an unemotional note about BCS.
    IMHO this investigation is a tempest in a teapot created by certain officials
    who wish to gain attention.
    As the Economist wrote in a cover headline some years ago
    Britain Waves the Rules.
    8 Jul 2012, 09:50 AM Reply Like
  • Not at all. It strikes at the whole concept of paying banking traders and executives ludicrous bonuses if they are successful, because this process corrupts everything.


    Imagine if doctors were paid million dollar bonuses for carrying out successful heart transplants, and then started killing off healthy patients so they could get the best hearts to transplant. That is just about what the bankers have been up to over the last few years.


    Fortunately medicine is a regulated profession, while banking is a free-for-all where anything goes. Clearly what is needed is strict regulation of banking and the separation of casino banking from retail banking so that the normal process of payrolls, payments, cash dispensing, etc. can continue regardless of whether casino bankers go broke without assistance from tax payers.


    In London, there were riots last year and people without previous criminal records received prison sentences for relatively trivial offenses such as stealing a pair of shoes or a few bottles of drinking water.


    Meanwhile in the City of London Bob Diamond, CEO of Barclay's has personally looted over $100 million from Barclay's in the last few years, and yet the man claims to have no clue of what was going on in his own bank regarding fixing LIBOR rates until THIS month, even though the FSA report was published LAST month, and some other executives knew about it years ago.


    Not only did he loot vast amounts of money, but he also arranged for the bank to pay the income tax he owed on his earnings, and then to pay the tax on the tax that was paid on his behalf. This alone, one would have thought, would be worth a few years in prison if there was any justice.


    If he is eventually sent to prison for his crimes this will be very good for the banking industry, because it will send a message to bankers that conspiracy, fraud, thieving, looting will be punished.


    Anyway, I don't think it is a tempest in a teapot, because, if followed through, it could be the start of worldwide banking reforms.
    8 Jul 2012, 01:30 PM Reply Like
  • BTW, Recently, RBS had a golf outing at Winged Foot in New York, with none other than Jack Nicklaus as it's host!! The UK gov has REALLY cracked downed on it's government owned entities.......haha...... nice job!
    8 Jul 2012, 09:00 PM Reply Like
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