Anthony Salz, former senior partner of Freshfields, has been appointed to lead a review of Barclays business practices (the Review). The Barclays press release announcing the Review is here and the Review’s terms of reference are here.
The Review was initiated following Barclays fine for the attempted manipulation of the LIBOR. The terms of reference assert that:
“The culture of the banking industry overall, and that of Barclays within it, needs to evolve. A number of events during and after the financial crisis demonstrated that banks need to revisit fundamentally the basis on which they operate, and how they add value to society. Trust has been decimated and needs to be rebuilt. …As an institution, Barclays must move further and faster to demonstrate that banks, and those who work for them, consistently operate to the highest standards of probity, integrity and honesty.”
Mr Salz will report to a sub-committee of Barclays non-executive directors and his report, expected to be published in Spring 2013, will be made public. Barclays staff involved in the Review will
“receive full indemnity and [will] able to provide input on a non-attributable basis, so that they may participate without any fear of potential consequences”.
“Any interested stakeholder” will be able to submit evidence to the Review, which will be funded by Barclays and supported by a team “from a well-regarded professional services firm”. The Review will have six workstreams:
“1. Create familiarity with Barclays principal business segments, including the key competitors and historical, contemporary and prospective challenges within each segment;
2. Conduct detailed review of past events identified as having caused material reputational damage for Barclays and the industry, with particular emphasis on events since the start of the financial crisis;
3. Review Barclays current global values, principles and standards;
4. Analyse key policies and procedures to identify potential weaknesses in reinforcing mechanisms;
5. Develop new global, mandatory code of conduct and recommendations for its implementation and ongoing assurance; and
6. Prepare a public report on findings and recommendations.”
Implicit throughout the Review’s terms of reference is that Barclays culture and practices have gone seriously awry.
