Barclays has ‘repeatedly let down society’, says Church of England

Barclays has ‘repeatedly let down society’, says Church of England
Chief executive Antony Jenkins (left) and chairman Sir David Walker (right) have staked their reputations on improving the culture at Barclays. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP

Chief executive Antony Jenkins (left) and chairman Sir David Walker (right) have staked their reputations on improving the culture at Barclays. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP

Jill Treanor,
Annual investment report by Church Commissioners shows they have asked bank for a ‘fundamental turnaround in culture’

Barclays has “repeatedly let down society” and needs to clean up its culture in the wake of the £290m fine for rigging Libor, the Church of England said on Wednesday

The annual investment report by the Church Commissioners shows that the discussions with Barclays will be reviewed in July, a year on from the interest rate scandal that led to the departure of the chairman Marcus Agius, the chief executive Bob Diamond and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier.

In the report the commissioners, working with the Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG), said they had “commenced an intensive engagement with Barclays seeking robust assurance that, having repeatedly let down society with its conduct, Barclays is making a determined and successful effort to effect a fundamental turnaround in culture”.

In July “the progress of the engagement with Barclays will be assessed”.

The bank has a new chairman, Sir David Walker, and chief executive, Antony Jenkins, who have staked their reputations on improving the culture of the bank.

The commissioners, who manage a £5bn endowment fund which pays pensions to church employees who retired before 1998, said that shares in publishing group News Corp were sold “after a year’s engagement which failed to allay our concerns about the governance of the company”.

The commissioners also set out how the C of E participated in last year’s so-called shareholder spring when a record number of remuneration reports were voted down. The C of E supported barely one in three of the remuneration reports on which it voted at annual general meetings and met 13 companies during the year to discuss executive pay.

Last month the church set out its voting policy for this year by instructing its fund managers to “challenge the bonus culture” and vote down pay policies that grant bosses more than 100% of their salary in annual bonuses. At the time it pointed out that the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who has questioned Barclays executives appearing before the banking standards commission, receives only three-and-a-half times the average clergy stipend of £21,900.

Later this year the C of E will update its investment policy on “corporate tax ethics”.

GUARDIAN UK

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