Barclays pay chair Alison Carnwath quits

Non-executive director who clashed with the chairman over Bob Diamond's bonus suddenly quits

guardian.co.uk, Jill Treanor, Wednesday 25 July 2012

Alison Carnwath, former pay chair at Barclays. Photograph: Micha
Theiner/City AM / Rex Feat

Barclays was thrown into fresh turmoil on Wednesday when one of the non-executive directors on the board of the scandal-hit bank suddenly quit.

Alison Carnwath, who also chairs the property company Land Securities, cited "personal reasons" for her immediate resignation from the board which has already suffered upheaval following the departure of chief executive Bob Diamond.

Even before the current Libor scandal there had been speculation about tension in the bank's boardroom.

She was said to have been in conflict with the bank's chairman Marcus Agius - who also quit in the wake of the Libor scandal - over a £2.7m bonus for Diamond that sparked a revolt over the bank's pay policies at the annual meeting in April.

Carnwath also endured a shareholder rebellion because of her status as chairman of the remuneration committee although some investors were later keen for her to stay following the reports that she had tried to stop the bonus. One investor said: "She seemed to have been the one board member asking the right questions."

However, others pointed out that she has seven other jobs or advisory roles in addition to Barclays. In terms of stock market listed companies, she chairs Land Securities and also sits on the board of the troubled hedge fund group Man Group, where she also endured a revolt about her continued membership of the board. Some 33% of investors failed to support her election to he board of Man, and some 22.5% failed to endorse her reinstatement on the board of Barclays, which are regarded as huge rebellions given that boardroom directors usually expect near-unanimous support.

She has not yet commented on the events.

But in a statement announcing her shock departure, Carnwath said: "With regret I have concluded that I am no longer able to devote sufficient time to my role as a director of Barclays given my other commitments. I would like to thank my colleagues on the board for their support and I wish Barclays continuing success in the future."

Agius, who will leave once his successor is found, said thanked her for her "contribution" since joining the board in August 2010.

But her departure comes at a difficult period for the bank which is due to publish first half profits of around £3.7bn on Friday and will spark fresh rumours of another rift in the boardroom.

When reports of a disagreement over the bonus emerged, the bank had insisted it was keen to foster debate in the boardroom.

The £290m fine for attempting to manipulate the Libor rate last month has left the bank seeking a new chairman and chief executive and handed a central role to former top accountant Sir Michael Rake who is now deputy chairman - although he has ruled himself out of the chairman's job despite expressing interest whem Agius first quit.

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