LONDON: Barclays Chief Executive Antony Jenkins said he has more work to do to rein in pay levels and expects pressure from investors for banks to improve profitability to reduce compensation across the industry.
More than a third of Barclays' shareholders failed to back the bank's compensation plan at its annual shareholder meeting last month, angered that Jenkins raised 2013 bonuses by 10 percent despite a one-third drop in profits. "Is there more to do? Absolutely there is more work to do," Jenkins said when asked about cutting pay.
"The pressure from bank shareholders (to improve returns) will put downward pressure on compensation and the market should correct over time." Jenkins plans to cut 19,000 jobs across the bank in the next three years to reduce costs and improve returns.
Dubbed "Saint Antony" when he took over as CEO in 2012 after a series of scandals and promised to reform culture at Barclays, Jenkins said improving standards was driven by business reasons.
"This isn't about running for sainthood, this is about good and sound commercial practice," he said. "It has to start and finish with banks reforming themselves regulation and legislation are a backstop," he said.
Jenkins was speaking on the first day of a three-day meeting in London of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), the trade group for banks, insurers and other financial firms.
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