British financial services firm Barclays plc (BCS,BARC.L) announced Tuesday the appointment of Robert Diamond Jr. as its chief executive officer, succeeding John Varley, who would resign as CEO on March 31, 2011. Diamond, who is currently President and Head of its investment banking unit, would become Deputy Group Chief Executive from October this year.
Varley would also resign from the Barclays Boards and the Group Executive Committee on March 31 next year, and will become a senior advisor on regulatory matters to Diamond and to the Board until September 30, 2011.
Media on Monday had speculated about the possible CEO shuffle. The news comes as a surprise as Varley, who has been at the top job at Barclays since September 2004, had given no previous indications about his resignation. As per reports, Varley plans to focus on charitable work and his range of non-executive directorships.
Barclays also said that Jerry del Missier and Rich Ricci will become Co-Chief Executives of Barclays Capital, effective October 1, 2010, in addition to their current roles of Co-Chief Executives of the Corporate and Investment Bank. The company noted that the composition and membership of its Group Executive Committee will remain unchanged, apart from the change in Group Chief Executive.
The new CEO, who currently leads the Corporate and Investment Banking and Barclays Wealth businesses, has been a member of the Board of Barclays since 2005.
Diamond, aged 59 years, currently runs the highly-profitable Barclays Capital, which he has been credited with for building from scratch into a multibillion-pound unit. Almost 90% of Barclays' GBP 3.95 billion pre-tax profit for the first half of the year was generated by Barclays Capital.
Marcus Agius, Barclays Chairman, said, "John and Bob have worked closely together for many years. In making this appointment, the Board is consciously ensuring continuity in management, strategy and our focus on delivering for customers, clients and shareholders."
As per reports, U.S.-born Diamond, currently based in New York, will relocate to London to take up his new role. His succession to the chief executive role is widely expected after he was credited with masterminding the bold, but controversial acquisition of the defunct Lehman Brothers' U.S. assets at the end of 2008.
BCS closed Friday's regular trading on the NYSE at $20.28, up $0.97 or 5.02% on a volume of 2.53 million shares. The stock has been trading in a range of $15.36-$25.68 in the past 52 weeks.
On the London Stock Exchange, BARC.L is currently trading at 319.00 pence, down 3.85 pence or 1.19%, on a volume of 3 million shares.
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