LONDON (Alliance News) - Barclays PLC on Thursday said Michael Rake will remain on its board as deputy chairman and senior independent director until a new chief executive is appointed, though he is set to become the chairman of payments company Worldpay Ltd in September.
The FTSE 100-listed bank said Rake will remain his in role until John McFarlane has reverted to his role as non-executive chairman and a replacement senior independent director is in place, in addition to the appointment of a new chief executive to replace Antony Jenkins. On Wednesday, Barclays had said he will stay in his positions until "at least the end of 2015".
Jenkins was ousted from his position last week in a process led by Rake, prompting John McFarlane, who became chairman in April, to take on executive responsibilities. McFarlane said Jenkins' removal came amid "rumblings of concern about the style of leadership" among non-executive directors as Barclays looks to move to the next stage of its journey, namely driving growth.
Barclays said that Jenkins' departure does not signal any major change in strategy. McFarlane said he is confident of finding a chief executive with a broad enough experience to run a business that encompasses personal, corporate and investment banking, credit cards and wealth management, across Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Barclays will prioritise appointing the right person for the job over acting quickly, he said.
"Clearly it would be good to have somebody who has some familiarity with the investment banking business, because it's such an important part of the organisation," McFarlane said, confirming initial assumptions that Jenkins' departure was down to his lack of experience in investment banking, having come from a retail background.
Rake's departure was the subject of press reports on Wednesday after it was revealed he is to become the chairman of Worldpay, the payments company carved out of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC in 2010 before it was sold to Bain Capital and Advent International, a pair of private equity houses. He will take up the role at Worldpay in September.
The bank added that "any conflict of interest which may arise in respect of his chairmanship of Worldpay will be managed in the normal manner." Rake is already the chairman of BT Group PLC and recently stepped down as the president of the Confederation of British Industry, a trade body.
Rake's appointment renewed speculation that Worldpay is planning to float on the London Stock Exchange. Reports about its intention to list first surfaced back in June, when the Financial Times said it was gearing up for a float which would value the company at around GBP6 billion, comfortably large enough to make it eligible for inclusion in the FTSE 100.
The FT said Worldpay's owners were understood in June to have hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to act as global coordinators for the IPO, with Lazard to advise the two on the deal.
Shares in Barclays were up 0.8% to 280.15 pence on Thursday.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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