Barclays’ new chief executive Antony Jenkins has vowed to reinstate the declining reputation of the UK’s fourth largest bank by assets as he moves forward to trim and strengthen its investment-banking unit.
The bank has sustained a series of blows including rate rigging scandal, an insurance mis-selling scandal and a tax avoidance scam, amid deteriorating financial performance, which only corroded the faith of investors.
Barclays lost its three executives amidst various scandals, and subsequently, Jenkins, who previously headed Barclays’s retail unit, was appointed new CEO of the bank.
Under the new leadership, a reformation journey will soon be embarked on to cut risk and boost profit, while the bank’s businesses will undergo a "reputational risk" test in a bid to sustain increasing regulatory pressure on the lender.
Denying the speculation to dispose or bifurcate the investment banking, Jenkins said, "I absolutely believe that a premier investment banking franchise will be a part of it (the bank)."
The bank is also preparing a strategy to analyse its operations, and either curtail or improve weaker areas in order to bring a "fundamentally sounder business," Jenkins added.
Jenkins has reduced the target of a return on equity (RoE) of 13%, which was set by his predecessor Bob Diamond and set the new bench mark of nearly 11.5%.