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Barclays chairman falls on his sword: And now a disturbing question, did Bank of England collude in interest rate fiddle?Marcus Agius announced his resignation this morning
Barclays agrees to launch audit to review 'flawed' past practices

RBS sacks four of its traders over their alleged role in the affair
Business Secretary Vince Cable backs calls for a criminal inquiry, saying public cannot understand why wrongdoers are allowed to 'walk away'

Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond will be questioned by MPs this week

By James Chapman, Political Editor
PUBLISHED: 14:21, 1 July 2012 | UPDATED: 08:31, 2 July 2012

Barclays chairman Marcus Agius has this morning resigned over the rate-fixing scandal.

His departure comes amid sensational evidence that traders believed they were fiddling the figures with the approval of the Bank of England.
The bank has also agreed to launch an audit, led by Sir Michael Rake, to review 'flawed' past practices that have been revealed.
The findings of the inquiry will be revealed in a public report and the bank will produce a new, mandatory code of conduct.

Mr Agius�s move appears designed to try to ease pressure on Barclays� chief executive Bob Diamond, who earned �18million last year as Britain�s highest-paid bank boss.
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Quit: Barclays chairman Marcus Agius today announced his resignation over the rate-fixing scandal
Mr Agius said: 'Last week's events - evidencing as they do unacceptable standards of behaviour within the bank - have dealt a devastating blow to Barclays reputation.
'As chairman, I am the ultimate guardian of the bank's reputation. Accordingly, the buck stops with me and I must acknowledge responsibility by standing aside.'
He added: 'It goes without saying that Barclays will continue to have my wholehearted support in the future.'

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Shortly after the resignation, Labour leader Ed Miliband called for Mr Diamond to quit too.
He told ITV1's Daybreak programme: 'I don�t think he can carry Barclays forward because I think that he was there, he was actually in charge of the part of Barclays where some of these scandals took place some years back.
'We will obviously hear what he has to say at the Select Committee on Wednesday but I really don�t believe that the kind of leadership for the future and restoring trust in British banks - that is really important - I don�t think that can be done by Bob Diamond.'
He added: 'I don�t just want to see criminal sanctions though. I want to see a new code of conduct for bankers, there is no proper professional code for bankers.
'For all we know, some of the people who were part of this scandal might still be working in other banks.'
Under pressure: Mr Agius (right) stands alongside Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond (centre), and former chief executive John Varley (left)
MARCUS AGIUS'S RESIGNATION STATEMENT
Stepping down: Mr Agius leaves No 10 Downing Street after a business ambassadors meeting in January
'It has been my privilege to serve as Barclays chairman for the past six years. This has been a period of unprecedented stress and turmoil for the banking industry in particular and for the wider world economy in general.

'Barclays has been well served by an excellent executive team � led, first by John Varley, and now by Bob Diamond � which has worked constructively with a strong and supportive board of directors. Barclays has remained resilient throughout the crisis, and has worked hard to ensure that today it is a strong, well capitalised and profitable business.
'But last week's events � evidencing as they do unacceptable standards of behaviour within the bank � have dealt a devastating blow to Barclays' reputation.
'As chairman, I am the ultimate guardian of the bank's reputation. Accordingly, the buck stops with me and I must acknowledge responsibility by standing aside.
'The board has also agreed to launch an audit of our business practices.
'This audit will be led by an independent third party reporting to Sir Michael Rake and a panel of non-executive directors.
'It will have three objectives:
to undertake a root and branch review of all of the past practices that have been revealed as flawed since the credit crisis started and identify implications for our business practices and culture going forward;
to publish a public report of its findings; and
to produce a new, mandatory code of conduct that will be applied across Barclays.
'This exercise will be part of a broader programme of activity intended to restore Barclays' reputation and we will establish a zero-tolerance policy for any actions that harm the reputation of the bank.
'I am truly sorry that our customers, clients, employees and shareholders have been let down. Barclays is full of hard-working, talented individuals whose integrity is not in question.
'It goes without saying that Barclays will continue to have my wholehearted support in the future.'

Mr Diamond said Mr Agius's decision 'deserves all of our respect'.
He said: 'He has been a thoughtful and supportive colleague to me in all of my roles - especially since I became chief executive last year - and for this I will always be grateful.'
He added: 'I welcome the board's undertaking of an independent, third-party audit of our business practices.
'I am committed to ensuring that the recommendations from this review are implemented in full, as part of a broader programme to continue to build a culture that all of those with a stake in Barclays can be proud of.'

Last night it was suggested that as he fights to keep his job, Mr Diamond could give �explosive� testimony about discussions with the Bank of England when he appears before MPs later this week.
Barclays was fined a record �290million for its role in rigging the interbank interest rate, called Libor, which affects how much customers pay for mortgages and credit cards.
Baroness Wheatcroft, a Tory peer formerly on the Barclays board, suggested that Mr Diamond should also go.
Enlarge Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Stephen Hester has fired four traders for their role in the Libor-fixing scandal
And, as calls increased for a judicial inquiry into the financial sector, Business Secretary Vince Cable said the Government would look at criminal sanctions for directors of failed banks and said the Serious Fraud Office was �taking a fresh look� at the affair.
It also emerged that 14 Barclays traders � from both sides of the Atlantic � were being investigated in the US by the FBI.
Mr Agius, 65, an ultra-smooth former investment banker at Lazard, was paid a salary of �750,000 a year at Barclays.
HOW BARCLAYS TRADERS CONSPIRED TO FIX THE MARKETS
Between 2005 and 2009, more than 200 requests were sent, usually by email or instant messenger - by traders to the Barclays Libor submitters.

In one example of several provided by the FSA, a trader emailed the Barclays Libor submitter in March 2006, writing: 'The big day [has] arrived� My NYK are screaming at me about an unchanged 3(month) libor. As always, any help wd be greatly appreciated. What do you think you�ll go for 3(month)?'
The submitter replied: 'I am going 90 altho 91 is what I should be posting.'
The trader thanked him, saying: '..when I retire and write a book about this business your name will be written in golden letters.'
The submitter then replied: 'I would prefer this [to] not be in any book!'
In another example from April 2006, a trader requested low one month and three month U.S. dollar Libor rates shortly before the submission was due.
He asked: 'If it�s not too late low 1m and 3m would be nice, but please feel free to say �no�... Coffees will be coming your way either way, just to say thank you for your help in the past few weeks.'
The submitter replied: 'Done... for you big boy.'
He is also chairman of the British Bankers� Association � the trade body that oversees the setting of Libor � and is a senior non-executive director at the BBC.
As chairman of Barclays he is meant to hold the executives, including Mr Diamond, to account and prevent excessive risk taking.
Mr Diamond, who ran the investment banking unit Barclays Capital before taking over as chief executive of the entire group, is responsible for the day-to-day running of the bank.
Last night, Baroness Wheatcroft said: �I think it�s very uncomfortable for both of them. I am not in the boardroom now, so I don�t know how the tenor of debate is going, but I think certainly they must be looking at what�s being said in Parliament, by the governor of the Bank of England, and wondering whether they can go on like this.�
Mr Agius � an archetypal silver-haired City grandee � is likely to be replaced by one of the senior independent directors on the Barclays board.
Sir Michael Rake, a former top accountant who serves as chairman of BT and easyJet and owns a polo pony stud farm in Argentina, is among the front-runners.

But the job could go to Sir John Sunderland, another non-executive director at Barclays, ex-chairman of Cadbury, and former president of the Confederation of British Industry business lobby group.
The new chairman will come under immediate pressure to shake-up the Barclays board.
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott said last night: �Marcus Agius going while Bob Diamond stays would be no solution to this scandal. Diamond is the driver and Agius only a passenger in the Barclays car crash.�
Mr Agius is widely seen as the fall-guy in the wake of the latest scandal to engulf Barclays. He has had a frosty relationship with shareholders for much of his six-year tenure.
Some shareholders felt he was not tough enough to stand up to the headstrong Mr Diamond � who has insisted he will not resign. He was also widely criticised over Mr Diamond�s �17 million pay packet at the annual meeting of shareholders in May.
Mr Diamond has forfeited his bonus for this year, as have fellow executives Jerry del Missier, Rich Ricci and Chris Lucas, in the wake of the interest-rate fixing scandal.
Analyst Justin Urquhart Stewart, director of City firm 7 Investment Management, said Mr Agius was an �honorary sacrifice� for Barclays.
Another analyst said �throwing Agius to the wolves will not save Diamond�.
Along with rivals HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays was also last week found guilty of exploiting thousands of small businesses by mis-selling complex loan deals.
Tactical move? Mr Agius's resignation appears designed to try to ease pressure on Barclays' chief executive Bob Diamond, who earned �18million last year as Britain's highest-paid bank boss

Lord Turner, the chairman of the Financial Services Authority, the City watchdog, described it as �a very black week for the reputation of British banking�.
Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, has called for a judge-led public inquiry into banking along the lines of Lord Justice Leveson�s into media standards.
He is expected to suggest the Government�s reluctance to do so stems from the Tories� closeness to leading figures in the City, many of whom donate money to the party.

A Government source said: �We are examining the best way to review professional standards for bankers. I think a full bells-and-whistles Leveson-style inquiry is unlikely, but there will be significantly more than just an inquiry into Libor.�

When will folk realise that the economy is the biggest smoke and mirrors stunt that has ever been pulled? Legalised money laundering at best. It's about time economists did their homework properly and exposed this illusion for what it is. A fictional currency created out of thin air, backed by nothing and then interest charged on it. A system that enslaves us all, NATIONALISE BARCLAYS and everyone in the UK give their business to a British Bank, that will end the banking saga.
Send everyone involved with this to prison for 20 years , no time off, that would stop others from fleecing the public.

2Anne · Joined: 04 May 2008 Posts: 399 Location: Norfolk

When I saw Mervyn King having an interview on TV I was shocked at what a bumbling old fool he was. Is is any wonder that UK banking and interest rates are in meltdown??.
The last 4 years with half a per cent interest rate have been the biggest rip off in history for millions of people with savings who have tried to cover their retirement.
Again GB is run by fools and those who are not are crooked and thieves.
What a state this country is in. God help us!!