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Chief executive waives bonus following a difficult year for the UK bank”.
The Chief Executive of Barclays Bank has chosen to receive a bonus following what the bank has described as a “difficult” year.
Antony Jenkins had been expected to receive an additional £1m, of a potential bonus of £2.5m, on top of his annual remuneration package, including pension and basic salary, of £6.1m.
Mr Jenkins, who has been in charge of Barclays since August 2012 following the resignation of Bob Diamond, said in statement that “To avoid further unnecessary public debate on this matter, I wish to make clear that I concluded early this week that I do not wish to be considered for a bonus award for 2012 and I have communicated that decision to the board”.
Citing the banks recent difficulties, including the role of some employees in rigging Libor and subsequent resignation of chairman and Marcus Agius, Mr Jenkins said that 2012 “was clearly a very difficult one for Barclays and its stakeholders, with multiple issues of our own making besetting the bank”.
“I think it only right that I bear an appropriate degree of accountability for those matters and I have concluded that it would be wrong for me to receive a bonus for 2012 given those circumstances”.
The statement by the Barclay’s chief executive follows a similar decision made by Stephen Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, to waive his bonus last year.
Dating back to 2005 the Libor scandal, which involved manipulation of the London inter-bank lending rate, used to set to set interest rates, led to Barclays being fined £290, the largest in the Financial Services Authority’s history.
The scandal led Barclay’s to fire five employees involved with Libor. On his appointment Mr Jenkins said that the bank had “an obligation to all stakeholders – customers, clients, shareholders, colleagues and broader society – and a unique opportunity to restore Barclay’s reputation by making it the ‘go to’ bank in all of our chosen markets. That journey will take time, we have much to do, and I look forward to getting started immediately”.
