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LONDON (Alliance News) - Barclays PLC Friday said John McFarlane will take over from David Walker as the bank's chairman at its 2015 annual general meeting.
Here's what you need to know:
- He was born in June 1947 in Dumfries, Scotland, meaning he is 67. He has an MA from the University of Edinburgh, an MBA from Cranfield and studied accounting and finance at The London Business School. He has British and Australian citizenship.
- McFarlane was appointed to the board of insurer Aviva PLC in September 2011 and became the Chairman in July 2012. During his tenure, Aviva's shares have risen 83%.
- He is also chairman of FirstGroup PLC, having been appointed to the bus and rail operator's board in December 2013 and taking up the chairmanship in January of this year. FirstGroup's shares have fallen just under 1% since the start of this year.
- At FirstGroup, McFarlane has been fighting off calls by activist investor Sandell Asset Management that the company splits into two, spinning off its US operations. Sandell thinks this will increase shareholder value. McFarlane said Sandell's plan lacked "financial logic".
- McFarlane will give up the chairmanships of Aviva and FirstGroup next year.
- McFarlane will will remain a non-executive Director of shopping centre operator Westfield Holdings Ltd and financial services and investment group Old Oak Holdings Ltd.
- He served as chief executive of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group from1997 to 2007, and prior to that was a group Executive Director at Standard Chartered PLC.
- He has also held senior positions at Citicorp, including as Managing Director of Citicorp Investment Bank and later head of Citicorp and Citibank in the UK and Ireland. His past non-executive directorships include the London Stock Exchange Group PLC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Capital Radio.
- McFarlane started his business career in the motor industry with Ford of Europe before entering banking
- He is also a former President of the International Monetary Conference, was Chairman of the Australian Bankers Association, and a Director of the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Graduate School of Management, as well as being on various Australian Federal Government boards and committees.
- He was a member of the Bank of England Financial Law Review Panel and in 1992, he chaired The McFarlane Report - the review of ?The Future Development of Auditing in the United Kingdom and Ireland.?
- He has banking and securities fellowships in the UK, Australia, and Hong Kong, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He was awarded an OBE in 1995 and the Australia Centenary Medal in 2003.
Barclays Non-Executive Director John Sutherland, who led the process to find the new Barclays Chairman, said in a statement Friday: "The Barclays Board set very challenging requirements for its new Chairman and I am very pleased that in John McFarlane we have identified someone who met all of our criteria. John is an enormously experienced and respected banker with global experience of both retail and investment banking and he will bring great leadership, integrity and knowledge to the role."
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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