Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) (NYSE:BCS) CEO, Anthony Jenkins, has said something you don’t expect any CEO to say: “I don’t deserve a bonus.” Jenkins took the bank’s helm in 2012, in the wake of allegations of Libor manipulation surrounding the former CEO.
On Friday, Jenkins issued a statement saying that he thinks it’s only “right” that he bears “an appropriate degree of accountability” in light of the Libor manipulation investigation. The bank admitted to Libor rate manipulation in July and agreed to pay regulators in the U.S. and the U.K. $453 million.
The Guardian reports today that Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) (NYSE:BCS) is now being investigated for its relationship with Qatar in 2008. U.K. regulators are investigating whether the bank loaned Qatar the money so that it could make its 2008 investment into the bank. Qatar’s investment into the bank was what enabled it to avoid a government bailout.
Jenkins made his decision to cancel his bonus for 2012 shortly after the investigation into the bank’s Qatar relationship appeared in the headlines and after Sir John Sunderland, who heads up the bank’s remuneration committee, indicated that he was going to offer Jenkins a 2012 bonus that was “seven figures.” Sunderland was called to appear before the banking standards commission to answer concerns about the sizeable bonus.
Meanwhile, the Financial Services Authority in the U.K. has said this week that it will start reviewing all Barclays’ interest rate hedging product sales. The agency said it has reviewed almost 200 sales to “non-sophisticated customers” and found that more than 90 percent of those sales didn’t comply with at least one regulatory requirement.
Neither Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) (NYSE:BCS) nor regulators in the U.K. are commenting on this latest development.
