Throughout a Tense Grilling by U.K. Politicians, Barclays CEO Jenkins Tried to Distance Himself As Far As Possible from his Predecessor, Bob Diamond.

[ by Howard Haykin and Melanie Gretchen ]

Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins appeared before hostile Members of Parliament, or "MPs," on Tuesday, to explain what steps are being taken to deal with an endless stream of of monetary sanctions and countless investigations into charges the bank may have violated securities rules and regulations, or committed crimes against international laws.   It certainly didn't help Mr. Jenkins that, on Tuesday, the day he testified, Barclays was hit with $1.6 billion in new monetary sanctions relating to 2 mis-selling scandals.

It's interesting to note that Antony Jenkins, an affable chap, has been the CEO of Barclays only since August - some 6 months ago.  All of the issues that he grilled on occurred under executive reign of Robert 'Bob' Diamond, Jr., who resigned in disgrace following the bank's settlement on charges it had participating in the manipulation of daily Libor interest rates calculations.   The fact that Mr. Jenkins had waived his annual bonus the previous week made little or no difference to the MPs who serve on the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.

Repeat After Me:  "They Won't Shoot the Messenger," and "Continue to Distance Myself from Diamond."    It would be understandable if Mr. Jenkins repeatedly chanted plea or mantra, "They Won't Shoot the Messenger."  To his credit, Mr. Jenkins did his best to distance himself from the Diamond administration at Barclays. 

• He repeatedly tried to assure politicians he was taking action to address the "aggressive and "self-serving" culture nurtured under Robert Diamond Jr.  

• He testified that he often raises concerns with the bank's board and Mr. Diamond over the culture of the bank, and that actions were needed rather than words.

• He said the bank's bonus pool for 2012 had already been 'substantially' reduced following a scandal-hit year that saw the bank's reputation battered by the Libor rate-rigging affair.

• He and the Board have set aside a further £600 million for the expensive payment protection insurance issue, bringing their current total to £2.6billion.

• In the wake of a study by London regulators into interest rate swap products that were sold to small and medium-sized businesses, Barclays will increase its provision in this area by £400million to £850million.

• While acknowledging that he was in charge of Barclaycard between 2006 and 2009, when expense payment protection insurance was sold to credit card customers, Mr. Jenkins said that more than 80% of the mis-sold insurance policies dated back to before 2004.  Yet, he admitted "there is no doubt we got it wrong."

• And the MPs heard how Mr. Jenkins disagreed with Bob Diamond's culture at the bank and now was "shredding the legacy" left to him.

For further details, go to [Daily Mail, 2/5/13].