Diamond’s ‘complete lack of candour’

The bank’s chair Marcus Agius revealed to the committee this morning that the fatal blow to Diamond’s career was dealt by Sir Mervyn King, who told the Barclays board that Diamond no longer commanded the confidence of the regulators. But there remain questions about the veracity of some of Diamond’s evidence, which centre around a letter from Financial Services Authority chairman Lord Turner to Agius. Turner’s letter, dated 10 April 2012 said:  

‘I wished to bring to your attention our concerns about the cumulative impression created by a pattern of behaviour over the last few years in which Barclays often seems to be seeking to gain advantage through the use of complex structures, or through regulatory approaches which are at the aggressive end of interpretation of the relevant rules and regulations.