Salz Review - Wall Street Journal

11
Salz Review
An Independent Review of Barclays’ Business Practices
don’t feel they can fully buy into an approach which so squarely links performance
to the upholding of our values. My message to those people is simple: Barclays is not
the place for you. The rules have changed. You won’t feel comfortable at Barclays
and, to be frank, we won’t feel comfortable with you as colleagues.”
2.36 Sir David Walker and Antony Jenkins acknowledge that there were gaps between
Barclays’ publicly articulated values and its business practices. They accept that
Barclays took some decisions which were based on short-term considerations and
were not always in the interests of its customers. As Antony Jenkins said in the 2012
Annual Report: “For the past 30 years, banking has been progressively too
aggressive, too focused on the short term, too disconnected from the needs of our
customers and clients, and wider society and we lost our way.”
2.37 Antony Jenkins has launched the Transform Programme to address many of the
issues we have explored. He has articulated the following values for Barclays: respect,
integrity, service, excellence, and stewardship. 6 And, while the bank’s externally
articulated objectives still include a financial focus to deliver a return on equity in
excess of the 11.5% cost of capital, it is underpinned by a broader statement of
purpose: ‘Helping people achieve their ambitions – in the right way’. 7
2.38 This is a good start. To address the trust issues and restore its reputation, we suggest
that Barclays should communicate openly and transparently how, and to what extent,
it will implement our recommendations. The values of the bank must be explained
to, and understood by, employees and potential recruits, and consistently translated
into everyday behaviour. The bank should set out clear plans for achieving cultural
change and monitor and report publicly on progress with implementation. And it
must learn from mistakes, paying close attention to staff and customer feedback.
All of this will take time, and demand focused commitment by all levels of the bank’s
leadership in a period when the external environment and regulation continue to
change.
2.39 There is a paradox in all this. In their efforts to change, banks could uncover more
of the legacy problems that have dogged the industry since the start of the financial
crisis. Despite being the first to settle regulators’ investigations into its role in the
attempted LIBOR manipulation and despite recognition of its cooperation in these
investigations, Barclays seemingly suffered more reputational damage than its
competitors. It would be unfortunate if this were to result generally in less
cooperation and greater reluctance to settle issues arising from past problems.
Accordingly, if in the change process Barclays discovers and brings to light past
unsatisfactory behaviours, we hope that it will not be punished unnecessarily for its
efforts and that recognition will be given to the challenges of achieving the
transformational change on which Barclays has embarked.
6 Barclays’ website: http://group.barclays.com/transform/values.
7 Ibid.