Barclays Names Rothschild Veteran to Succeed Departing Chairman--2nd Update
November 01 2018 - 7:10PM
Dow Jones News
By Margot Patrick
Barclays PLC on Thursday named Rothschild & Co. veteran
Nigel Higgins as its next chairman, with a mandate likely to
include restoring investor confidence and improving the bank's
sunken share price.
He will take over next year from departing chairman John
McFarlane, who confirmed he will leave the bank in May, as widely
expected.
Mr. Higgins will step into a role seen as one of the toughest in
global banking because of ongoing question marks around the bank's
strategy. Since the financial crisis of 2008, Barclays has
undergone a series of restructurings while being battered by
scandals including over weak financial crime controls and alleged
interest rate rigging by its traders, some of whom went to
prison.
This year, the British bank has come under pressure from
activist Sherborne Investors to improve returns, potentially by
making further strategic changes. Chief Executive Jes Staley has
indicated there is no appetite within the bank to do so. In August,
Sherborne said it was in talks with Barclays about finding its next
chairman, but a person familiar with the matter said it didn't have
any role in the selection process.
Barclays had started a search for Mr. McFarlane's replacement
earlier this year, after the 71-year-old said he'd likely depart in
2019. A front-runner candidate, Barclays board member Gerry
Grimstone, unexpectedly pulled out of the race several months
ago.
Mr. Higgins, 58 years old, will join a very different
institution from family-controlled Rothschild, where he's worked
for 36 years since joining out of college. Unlike that staid
institution, Barclays has been walloped by a decade of financial
and trading scandals and changed CEOs three times in five
years.
Mr. Staley has been in the role since December 2015. He was
hired by Mr. McFarlane, who had joined Barclays earlier that year
before swiftly firing Mr. Staley's predecessor.
At Barclays, Mr. Higgins will be tasked with assessing the
success and prospects of a strategy set out by Mr. Staley, focused
around the U.S. and U.K. The bank's units include a U.K. retail
bank, a New York- and London-based investment bank and a large
credit cards business.
Barclays shares are near two-year lows, in part because some
investors continue to question its trans-Atlantic diversification
strategy. Shares in British banks have also fallen this year
because of concerns about how the country's economy will perform
once it leaves the European Union next year.
At Rothschild, Mr. Higgins rose from graduate trainee to a
string of top roles including co-head of global investment banking.
In 2010, he became chief executive. That role evolved into a co-CEO
job as Rothschild's structure changed, and he more recently served
as managing partner and co-chairman of the group's executive
committee.
In September, he stepped down from those roles and became deputy
chairman.
Rothschild didn't immediately respond to a request for comment
late Thursday.
Barclays said Mr. Higgins will joins its board in March before
taking over the chairman job two months later.
Write to Margot Patrick at margot.patrick@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 01, 2018 18:55 ET (22:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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