LONDON (Alliance News) - Barclays PLC on Tuesday said it is yet to conclude the process of appointing a new chief executive, amid press reports that the banking group has already chosen former JPMorgan investment banker Jes Staley for the role.
"The process of appointing a new group chief executive officer has not yet concluded, and Barclays will provide a further update once that is complete," Barclays said in a statement which made direct reference to Staley.
Chairman John McFarlane, who has been acting in an executive capacity since ousting retail banker Antony Jenkins from the CEO role in July, has previously suggested that Barclays's new leader would require serious investment banking experience.
The investment banking division's returns have been under pressure, and Barclays has sought to reduce its influence on overall group earnings with a heavy restructuring and job cuts to save on costs.
Naming a US investment banker to the top job could prove to be controversial in the UK. The last investment banker to hold the top job at Barclays was Robert Diamond, widely credited with building up Barclays' investment bank. However, Diamond was ousted in 2012 in the wake of a GBP290 million fine over the bank's role in the Libor benchmark manipulation scandal and criticism over his remuneration.
Jenkins, formerly the head of the bank's Barclaycard cards division, was appointed to tackle the bank's misconduct problems and clean up its reputation.
Shares in Barclays were down 2.6% at 249.90 pence on Tuesday afternoon.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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