Rich Ricci Steps Down at Barclays
Barclays has drawn a line under the era of Bob Diamond, who stepped down as chief exeuctive officer (CEO) of the UK bank last July. It has announced the departure of the last two senior executives of his period in charge: Rich Ricci, head of investment banking, and Tom Kalaris, who ran wealth management.
Antony Jenkins, who took over the role of CEO last August in the wake of Barclay’s £290m Libor rate manipulation settlement and Diamond’s subsequent resignation, said he needed the “right senior team in place” to deliver his new “strategy and commitments”, principally to repair the bank’s battered reputation following alleged Libor manupulation and other mis-selling scandals.
Jenkins outlined his ‘Transform’ strategy review in February, which aims to boost profitability and shift Barclays’ image away from the investment banking focus that marked Diamond’s tenure. The departures, particularly that of Ricci, was widely anticipated, given that both were close to the former CEO, with whom they had worked since 1997. A flamboyant individual, Ricci was well known for his collection of racehorses and for being one of the best-paid men in the City. Last month he pocketed nearly £18m in deferred remuneration earned over the past three years.
Barclays described the departures of the two senior executives as ‘retirements’. Ricci will be replaced as head of Barclays’ corporate and investment banking at the end of June by Eric Bommensath and Tom King. Kalaris will retire at the same time as head of wealth management, to be replaced on an interim basis by Peter Horrell. Barclays said in February that Chris Lucas, finance director since 2007, would step down later this year once a replacement has been found.
Both Ricci and Kalaris will receive up to one year’s salary as part of their notive period, but no severance pay – although as retirees they will remain eligible for releases of deferred remuneration awards from previous years, potentially running to several millions of pouns. Ricci has already received £67.4m of deferred share awards in the past four years.
Bommensath joined Barclays from Bankers Trust in 1997 and became head of markets last October. King joined Barclays in 2009 from Citigroup and became head of investment banking, based in the US, earlier this year. Both men will join Barclays’ executive board, as will Skip McGee, who has been appointed CEO of Barclays Americas.
Announcing the new appointments, Jenkins said: “In Tom and Eric we have two superb leaders for CIB [investment unit], and I am looking forward to working with them to build the ‘go-to’ investment bank from our already world-leading position.”