Barclays boss Bob Diamond resigns amid Libor scandal

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond has resigned with immediate effect.

The move comes less than a week after the bank was fined a record amount for trying to manipulate inter-bank lending rates.

Mr Diamond said he was stepping down because the external pressure on the bank risked "damaging the franchise".

Chancellor George Osborne welcomed the decision and said he hoped it was the "first step towards a new culture of responsibility in British banking".

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18685040

[mazzarro]

1. For once the big honchos get their asses kicked too! -- n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Brand new Chief Operating Officer seems to have gone too

10.22am: An update on Jill Treanor's scoop that Barclays chief operating officer Jerry del Missier could resign (see 9.59am). The WSJ is now reporting that he has quit.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/03/bob-diamond-quits-barclays#block-20

LONDON, June 22 – Barclays moved one of its top investment bankers to a new job focused on operations and regulatory compliance on Friday, leaving Rich Ricci as the sole boss of its investment bank.

Jerry del Missier – who had run the corporate and investment banking business jointly with Mr Ricci since late 2010, when previous boss Bob Diamond began his ascendance to the Barclays chief executive role – will become chief operating officer, a position the bank had left void since 2008.

Banks have been grappling with an onslaught of new international regulations on risk and capital since the financial crisis, prompting many to beef up compliance units.

UK lenders will also be implementing complex new government demands, such as separating their investment bank operations from retail operations – one of the key challenges for Mr del Missier in his new role.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a743f0b8-bcc1-11e1-a111-00144feabdc0.html

Basic 'demand': stop defrauding everyone.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Guardian seems to have edited that

10.22am: An update on Jill Treanor's scoop that Barclays chief operating officer Jerry del Missier could resign (see 9.59am). The WSJ is now reporting that he is "likely to step down, sources say."

[maddezmom]

10. has now resigned

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/03/barclays-coo-idUSL6E8I39AT20120703

[dipsydoodle]

11. News changes like the weather these days

[cstanleytech]

4. So is he being made to also forfeit any golden parachute? If not then I so disagree with Osborne

about the banks taking responsibility because if you do something wrong you shouldnt be able to turn around and make $$$$ off of it.

[dipsydoodle]

5. That may not come into it

He was on a life time contract and severence may be based on that.

[Berlin Expat]

6. What I find most interesting, dipsydoodle,

is that tomorrow (Wednesday), Mr. Diamond is scheduled to appear at an inquest by MPs.

The British press is openly speculating that Mr. Diamond may go MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) on the Bank of England and the British Banking Association. The nuclear option, as it were.

After all, as a head honcho of a major financial institution, he's arguably somewhat limited as to what he can say; as the former head honcho of a major financial institution, he now has a great deal more freedom to speak his mind and reveal the skeletons in the closets. If the BoE and the BBA were indeed complicit in the LIBOR rate manipulation, as some allegations suggest, it'll unleash an absolute sh*tstorm in the U.K. financial industry.

I'm going to have to pick up some popcorn and beer.......tomorrow could get very interesting in Old Blighty.

[dipsydoodle]

7. I have a feeling

that what's equally likely to come to light is the names of the other banks involved in this debacle.

Personally I'd like to see all affected trades unwound and commissions repaid. The effect on aggregate trades of over $300 trillion should be quite comical.

[dipsydoodle]

8. Bank of England 'eased Diamond out'

I have learned that Bob Diamond's departure was encouraged by the Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, and the chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Lord Turner.

The version of his exit, given to me by a senior Barclays source, that Mr Diamond went because of the heat from parliament, is only half the story.

What persuaded Mr Diamond and his board colleagues that he should resign was an unambiguous message to the bank from Sir Mervyn and Lord Turner that they would be happy if he resigned.

They were unable to force him out, because the recent FSA investigation into how Barclays attempted to rig the important Libor interest rates did not find him personally culpable.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18690102

[bemildred]

9. The financial system is corrupt, and it has always been corrupt.

Money corrupts. Big money causes big corruption.