Chairman not “wed” to policies
(13 August 2012 – United Kingdom) Barclay’s new chairman David Walker has said he is not wed to any of the bank’s former predecessor’s policies and intends on undertaking a full review of the business.
Walker has said that he isn’t committed "to anything except getting it right" when asked by the Daily Telegraph about the banks current business plan.
Newly appointed Walker will replace Marcus Agius, who offered his resignation last month following the imposition of a £290 million (A$430 million) fine for manipulating the critical London interbank offered rate, or LIBOR, which is used to calculate borrowing costs for hundreds of trillions of dollars in loans and investments such as bonds, auto loans and derivatives.
The scandal has damaged the bank's reputation and led to a slew of resignations, most publically that of former Chief Executive Bob Diamond. Regulators are still weighing whether to bring criminal charges against those involved.
But Walker did seem to suggest changes in the way the retail end of the bank works, saying 'in principle' he was in favor of charging customers for bank accounts.
Most British banks offer users free standard checking accounts, but Walker said that created an incentive for banks to find more creative, and riskier, ways to extract money from customers. British banks have become embroiled in a series of scandals over interest rate swaps for small businesses and mis-selling payment protection insurance to consumers.
Such were 'the consequence of not charging for bank accounts,' said Walker. 'Because banks are not charging, it drives them inexorably into this sort of position.'
Newly appointed Walker will replace Marcus Agius, who offered his resignation last month following the imposition of a £290 million (A$430 million) fine for manipulating the critical London interbank offered rate, or LIBOR, which is used to calculate borrowing costs for hundreds of trillions of dollars in loans and investments such as bonds, auto loans and derivatives.
The scandal has damaged the bank's reputation and led to a slew of resignations, most publically that of former Chief Executive Bob Diamond. Regulators are still weighing whether to bring criminal charges against those involved.
But Walker did seem to suggest changes in the way the retail end of the bank works, saying 'in principle' he was in favor of charging customers for bank accounts.
Most British banks offer users free standard checking accounts, but Walker said that created an incentive for banks to find more creative, and riskier, ways to extract money from customers. British banks have become embroiled in a series of scandals over interest rate swaps for small businesses and mis-selling payment protection insurance to consumers.
Such were 'the consequence of not charging for bank accounts,' said Walker. 'Because banks are not charging, it drives them inexorably into this sort of position.'
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