Page 57 - Barclays Bank (B)

The Way Ahead

The ring-fencing rules imposed by

the U.K. Government sought to

avoid a repeat of the 2008 crisis.
Although Barclays did not require a UK taxpayer-funded

bailout, the new rules applied to all lenders in Britain that

had retail and commercial or investment banking

activities.

John McFarlane (Chairman) said that:

"Barclays is not efficient, we are not productive, we

are cumbersome,……We have [a] very large

bureaucracy and personal accountability is not as

high as we need it to be. And so it's not just a

reduction in costs, it's a change in the way we do
things that's required here."(9)

But, Jenkins who was brought in 2012, to achieve these

changes and repair the tattered reputation of the bank by

addressing its “toxic culture” became someone who

focused on retail operations whilst cutting jobs at the

investment bank at such a speed that it was making the

bank unprofitable and inefficient. Unfortunately, he

achieved this without boosting earnings at the same

time.

After little more than two years Barclays fired Jenkins

after he had a row with the head of its investment bank

over the future of the troubled division.