[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

New Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins issued an ultimatum to his employees:  either buy into the bank's push to rebuild its reputation, or leave the bank.  Following the bank's crippling $453 million Libor settlement, Mr. Jenkins announced the bank would focus on reducing its exposure to risky trading activity.

Communicating the Barclays staff members by an internal memo, Mr. Jenkins, who assumed the helm after Robert Diamond Jr. resigned in the wake of the Libor investigation, said 2013 would not be easy as the bank tries to recover its reputation.  He also said that he'll announce on 2/12/13, the results of a strategic review of the bank's business units.  Given that commitment to retail banking, and planned departures from risky investment banking activities, Barclays staff members now have a pretty good understanding of where the bank is going.

Mr. Jenkins, who previously ran Barclays' consumer banking business, offered these concluding thoughts for employees who are unable to support Barclays' plans: 

"My message to those people is simple.  Barclays is not the place for you. The rules have changed. You won't feel comfortable at Barclays and, to be frank, we won't feel comfortable with you as colleagues.  We must never again be in a position of rewarding people for making the bank money in a way which is unethical or inconsistent with our values."

For further details, go to [Dealbook, 1/17/13].