Barclays boss volunteers for MPs questioning

Bob Diamond, chief executive of embattled banking group Barclays, has volunteered to appear before the Treasury Select Committee in a letter to committee chairman Andrew Tyrie.

In the letter Mr Diamond says he would be “happy” to attend a TSC session, but that due to ongoing civil and criminal investigations there will be questions which he “will not be able to answer in detail”.

Barclays has been asked to pay a total of £290m after a cross-border investigation by regulators in the UK and US that spanned several years. The £59.5m fine from the Financial Services Authority is the largest ever levied by the regulator.

In the letter Mr Diamond outlines two separate issues which have gained public attention recently: that Barclays traders tried to influence the banks’s submissions to benefit the position of their own trading desks; and that the bank reduced its Libor submissions to protect its reputation from negative speculation “during periods of acute market stress.”

He says that the former was down to “a small number of people relative to the size of Barclays trading operations”.

He added: “Given the nature of the behaviours uncovered through these investigations, questions of accountability have rightly been raised.

“Following conclusion of the regulatory investigations, and yesterday’s [28 June] public announcements, we are now completing a review of employee conduct for all those involved.

“That process is rigorous and all appropriate options will be pursued for those who have a case to answer, ranging from the clawback or withholding of remuneration to being asked to leave the bank.”