Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter has neither nightly diversion from growing workplace troubles nor World Series trophy.
Antony Jenkins has his fingers crossed the era of you know who is almost over.
As you may recall, over the summer, former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond resigned in disgrace after revelations that bank employees had engaged in rampant rate rigging on his watch. And while the scandal clearly had an affect on his last performance review, Bob and friends o' Bob will be pleased to hear that it didn't actually hurt him too badly come pay day! In addition to a couple million pounds (for half a year's work), it was announced today that Diamond's 2012 package also includes lodging while he's visiting old colleagues in town, as well as a company car and driver. No need to see the guy reduced to dirtying his hands opening door or walking, when he's already been through so much.
Perhaps, you thought, that the day Vikram Pandit was abruptly and unceremoniously fired from Citigroup was the end. That we'd lost him for good. That he'd retreat to the his Upper West Side manse and spend his days beefing up his Odd Couple memorabilia collection, or work on that novel about a love that dare not speak its name between a bank CEO and the analyst who only acted like she hated him, or build that Zen garden he'd always wanted that the fucks at Citi never let him have. That he was finished with Wall Street. Well fret not. Uncle Vik wouldn't never do that to you.
Mr. Jenkins and the firm’s chairman, David Walker, told politicians on Tuesday that they were prioritizing ethics and reducing risky trading activity, adding that they would take responsibility if future problems were discovered at the bank. The Barclays’ chief, who agreed to forgo his bonus in response to the series of scandals that have hit Barclays in recent years, said he would resign if another scandal was uncovered while he was leading the bank. “The chief executive is responsible for what happens during their tenure and when incidents happen the price needs to be paid and I believe were I to find myself in that position I would do the right thing,” Mr. Jenkins said on Tuesday. When politicians asked Mr. Jenkins if he was eradicating the culture that he inherited from his predecessor Robert E. Diamond Jr., Barclays’ new chief said he was indeed “shredding that legacy” of sometimes being “too self-centered and too aggressive.” [Dealbook]
The regulator didn't specifically suspect anything re: propensity for manipulating Libor, just a general feeling it couldn't necessarily trust the guy, which Barclays chairman Marcus Agius conceded was not entirely off base. On Wednesday a British parliamentary committee release an internal record from the Financial Services Authority dating back to September 2010. The note details a discussion between Barclays Chairman Marcus Agius and then FSA chief Hector Sants during the final stages of the regulatory approval process for Mr. Diamond's promotion to CEO. In the note Mr. Sants said that Mr. Diamond had not reached "the level of openness, transparency and willingness to air issues with the FSA" of his predecessor. Mr. Agius agreed and said that the outgoing Barclays CEO John Varley would "coach" Mr. Diamond on the issue...During a meeting with lawmakers after Mr. Diamond's resignation, Mr. Agius said that the Libor issue had not been raised by the FSA when it vetted the CEO. U.K. FSA Warned Barclays Over Diamond in 2010 [WSJ]
The bad news is that former Barclays chief operating officer Jerry del Missier is still out of a job and it may be some time before he gets a new one, on account of "investigations conducted by American and British authorities [demonstrating] he was a central figure" in the scandal du jour and "asked other bank officials to lower the firm’s submissions to Libor." The good news is that Jer is still (probably) getting paid, unlike some people he knows. Barclays was mired in fresh controversy on Wednesday night after handing almost £9m to a top banker who left following the Libor scandal and after one of its highest profile non-executive directors suddenly quit, taking the toll at the top to four. Jerry del Missier, who resigned after telling subordinates to reduce the bank's Libor submission during the October 2008 banking crisis, was reported to have been handed £8.75m cash as part of his leaving package. Shadow Treasury minister Chris Leslie called on del Missier to follow Diamond and waive the bulk of his payoff. "Having resigned from Barclays over the Libor fixing scandal, people will find the scale of this award completely inappropriate. Bob Diamond rightly waived most of his pay off and Mr del Missier ought to do the same," Leslie said. £9m leaving deal for Barclays deputy Jerry del Missier [Guardian] Former Top Barclays Official in Line for $13.6 Million Payout [Dealbook]
While most offspring are typically not available for comment following the resignations, voluntary or otherwise, of their banker dads (lookin' at you, Jimmy Cayne, Jr.), earlier today prolific Tweeter Nell Diamond had this to say to the Brits who have been cheering her father's departure: "George Osborne and Ed Miliband you can go ahead and #HMD." Unfortunately the note has since been deleted (and replaced with "No one in the world I admire more than my dad. 16yrs building Barclays. Shame to see the mistakes of few tarnish the hard work of so many") but the vigorous defense was appreciated nonetheless. Previously Nell, a 2011 Princeton graduate, has had words for Ben Bernanke ("you know what bernanke? maybe tomorrow I will make lots of "projections" and YOU will miss the dumpling truck. how ya like them apples B?"), the slag heaps at Coachella ("every girl at coachella looks like pocahontas went to burning man. ugh. you probably can't even pronounce rodarte"), and the amateur hour fucks who think her name is Neil and who she should stab with a trident ("number of people who have called me neil today: 4 via email, 1 via phone. number of people to add to my billy madison lipstick kill list: 5."). Bob Diamond's Daughter Defends Her Dad [NS via DI]
In an effort to strike a balance between being competitive and responsible, Bob Diamond will only receive 6.3 million pounds ($10 million) for his work in 2011, down from $9 million in 2010. Technically, his total package amounts to 17 million pounds ($26.9 million), but that includes stuff from previous years. [Reuters]