Sir David Walker will step down as a Director and as Chairman of Barclays with effect from the conclusion of the Barclays AGM in 2015.
John McFarlane is currently Chairman of Aviva plc, having joined the Aviva Board in September 2011 and becoming Chairman in July 2012. He is also Chairman of FirstGroup plc and he will be stepping down from both positions at the conclusion of their AGMs in April and July 2015, respectively. Barclays is grateful to Aviva and FirstGroup for agreeing to release Mr McFarlane to take on this important role. The appointment has been approved by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Mr McFarlane will remain a non-executive Director of Westfield Holdings Ltd and Old Oak Holdings Ltd.
Mr McFarlane has a strong track record as a CEO and subsequently as a Chairman. He brings extensive experience of investment, corporate and retail banking, as well as insurance, strategy, risk and cultural change.
Commenting, Sir David Walker said:
“I am delighted that Barclays has appointed John McFarlane to succeed me as Chairman. We are making good progress toward the delivery of our strategic objectives and I have every confidence that John will work very successfully with Antony Jenkins in leading this great bank through the next phase of that journey.
Sir John Sunderland, who led the process to appoint a successor to Sir David Walker, said:
“The Barclays Board set very challenging requirements for its new Chairman and I am very pleased that in John McFarlane we have identified someone who met all of our criteria. John is an enormously experienced and respected banker with global experience of both retail and investment banking and he will bring great leadership, integrity and knowledge to the role.”
John McFarlane commented:
“I am looking forward enormously to joining the Barclays Board and to working with my fellow non-executive Directors, Antony Jenkins and his leadership team to deliver the strategy that Barclays has committed to and which I fully support. Under Sir David’s leadership Barclays has made significant progress in putting in place the foundations for sustainable, long term success. I am very excited to be asked to Chair Barclays as it enters the next, important stage of its long history.”
