Barclays set appoint James Staley as new chief executive

It is understood the Barclays board has approved the appointment of Mr Staley and that a formal announcement will be made in the next fortnight.

 

Barclays' previous chief executive, Antony Jenkins, was fired from the bank in July after falling out with board members.

Mr Staley currently works for US hedge fund Blue Mountain Capital Management.

BBC business editor Kamal Ahmed told the Today programme that previously "there had been big tensions within the bank" between the retail and investment divisions.

He added that investors were unhappy with the change of focus of the bank towards retail banking under Mr Jenkins.

The board of Barclays has agreed the appointment of Mr Staley and the bank is now waiting for regulatory approval before making an official announcement.

Our editor added that with the troubles faced by the banking sector, including the taxpayer-funded bailout of Royal Bank of Scotland, some people within the City are concerned that London is losing its position as global banking centre. The appointment of Mr Staley might be seen as trying to resurrect that position.

 Who is James Staley?

James Staley, 59, is a former chief executive of JP Morgan Chase's investment bank. He spent more than 30 years of his career there before joining hedge fund BlueMountain Capital Management in 2013.

A longstanding lieutenant of JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon, Mr Staley was at one point thought to be in line to take over as chief executive of the US bank.

It appears that it is not the first time that Mr Staley has been lined up to take the chief executive role at Barclays, following the resignation of Bob Diamond in the wake of the Libor rate-rigging scandal.