Who is the new boss of Barclays?

Who is the new boss of Barclays? Well, as far as the banking world goes, he's about as far from being Bob Diamond as it is possible to be.

Before Diamond blazed out, Antony Jenkins may well not have been the obvious choice for the top job.

He is well liked in the bank, respected in the City, and seen to have done a good job of sorting out the mess over PPI payments.

Yet in a world where ego and love of risk are practically a currency in themselves, Jenkins, a fairly 'safe' candidate may not have been at the top of the list.

But his appointment is perhaps a sign that the City, well at least parts of it, are beginning to change.

Over recent weeks other potential candidates fell out. The implausibly named Rich Ricci? Too close to Diamond and caught up in the rate rigging fiasco. Bill Winters formerly of JP Morgan?

One City insider suggested to me last week fairly or not, the bank could not go for an American after 'RED' - the company's internal name for Diamond, an acronym of his full initials.

Richard Meddings of Standard Chartered? Impossible after that bank's scandal over money laundering to Iran. Stephen Hester? I'm told that conversations were had, but the RBS boss apparently laughed at the suggestion and made clear he would not leave.

Sir Gus O'Donnell? Despite some reports to the contrary insiders at Barclays tells me they never remotely considered him.

So during one of the most traumatic periods for the banking industry a talented but relatively safe banker, low on flash, emerged as the best man for the job.

There may be concerns that Jenkins has little experience of the racier side of Barclays, the investment bank. He has been running the high street retail bank. And the share price edged down a little bit this morning after the announcement.

But he is, along with the new chairman who appointed him Sir David Walker, a well respected, if safe pair of hands. And after recent times in the City, safety has great appeal.

Jenkins starts with a hellish intray. There are criminal investigations into what happened with Qatari investors in 2008, and the rate rigging scandal.

The FSA is investigating too, including the bank's Finance Director Chris Lucas, still in his job. There is still a clean up to do over 'swaps', deals that were sold to businesses as insurance policies that have led to thousands of compensation claims.

That's even before dealing with a very tough economy, political pressure to get more money out the door to UK firms, the eurozone crisis, and the complexity of Barclays' sprawling global empire.

But he will be well compensated for dealing with all of that. A basic salary of £1.1 million, with a potential bonus of £2.5 million on top, plus possible long term share options of up to four times his salary.

For the vast majority of us, that is a stratospheric pay package. Significantly, for the bank it is less than Bob Diamond earned.