Bob Diamond News

Sir Mervyn King has defended his discussion with Barclays about the then boss Bob Diamond.

He said that he did not "fire anyone," but that he simply re-stated the regulators concerns.

I said to them that I really wanted them to understand how concerned the regulators were.

Sometimes you can hear the message from the regulators and not really engage in it.

Sometimes it can be helpful to have a third party say 'Do you really understand how worried they are?' and I think they found that helpful.

I heard the concerns the regulators had and I wanted to impress upon the non-executive board of Barclays the regulators had real concerns.

• Money
• Bob Diamond
• Mervyn King

The Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, speaking in his first-ever live television interview to Channel 4 news, said that he did not contribute to Bob Diamond leaving as the boss of Barclays, saying;

"I didn't fire anybody. I had a conversation which I thought would be helpful to them [Barclays] in understanding how concerned the regulators were."

He refused to confirm if he had confidence in Bob Diamond at that time.

• Business
• Bob Diamond
• Banks

FSA executive chairman Lord Turner has told the Treasury Select Committee that Bob Diamond was aware of a letter detailing issues with Barclays' culture.

Mr Diamond previously told MPs that he had not known about the letter sent to the bank in April warning over its "aggressive" stance on regulation.

• UK
• Bob Diamond
• Jerry Del Missier

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has released details of a meeting held with Barclays' board in February.

The FSA found its business model and earnings were challenged by the economic and regulatory environment.

It also highlighted how market perceptions continue to affect the bank's standing.

• Material economic exposures within vulnerable Eurozone countries.
• New banking proposals pose challenge to the business and Barclays' operating model.
• Capital is tight given forthcoming regulatory changes plus new expectations.
• There is still considerable work to make Barclays resolvable.

• UK
• Bob Diamond
• Jerry Del Missier

Jerry del Messier has told the Treasury Select Committee that he did not know fixing the Libor rate was against the law.

Conservative MP David Ruffley tried to make him admit that what he had sanctioned was illegal.

• UK
• Bob Diamond
• Jerry Del Missier

Jerry del Missier insisted he did not think he was acting as a fall guy for Bob Diamond or for anything.

He told the committee, that as far as he was aware, he was not being investigated by any authority in the US or the UK.

Mr del Missier said he could understand resentment to Barclays as a result.

• UK
• Bob Diamond
• Jerry Del Missier

Jerry del Missier has admitted to the Treasury Select Committee, that in retrospect, Barclays' decision to fix Libor rates was improper.

The bank's former chief operating officer told MPs that he regretted that the action had sullied the company's reputation.

• UK
• Bob Diamond
• Jerry Del Missier

Mr del Missier told MPs he believed the Bank of England alone instructed Barclays to lower Libor submissions.

Bob Diamond previously told the committee that he did not believe the Bank of England instructed them to lower the inter-bank lending rate, and he had not instructed Mr del Missier to do so.

• UK
• Bob Diamond
• Jerry Del Missier

Jerry Del Missier has downplayed the significance of Barclays fixing its Libor rate, given the other events that were happening at the time.

The entire financial system was hanging in the balance, and in the grand scheme of everything that was going on, it didn't seem a significant event, given the number of significant events that were transpiring at that time.

Within a week there was a co-ordinated, massive reduction of interest rates, which frankly rendered the whole issue obsolete.

• Politics
• Bob Diamond
• Jerry Del Missier