Barclays: keep toxic Bramson off board

CORPORATE raider Edward Bramson would be a toxic presence on the board of Barclays and should be kept at arm’s length, the bank’s bosses have warned.

Bramson must be blocked from becoming a non-executive director for the sake of all shareholders, chairman John McFarlane said. It comes as the raider pushes for investors at Barclays’ annual meeting in May to vote him into a boardroom role.

It is thought Bramson, who controls 5.51pc of Barclays, wants to slash its prized investment bank. McFarlane, 71, set out the case against the raider in a stronglyworded letter to investors.

He raised concern over a complicated bonus structure which could see Bramson pocket tens of millions of pounds in fees if he gets into a position of power.

McFarlane said: ‘Mr Bramson would likely seek to undertake a new round of restructuring and review which, in our view, would significantly destabilise the group, impede progress and result in a destruction of shareholder value.

‘The board believes that the interests of Mr Bramson are fundamentally misaligned with the interests of shareholders.

‘Based on his track record, the board believes the presence of Mr Bramson on the board would be unnecessarily destabilising for management and the talent we employ more broadly.’

The chairman added that Bramson’s reported plans for cuts have already been considered and dismissed because they would not boost profits.

Bramson, 68, has built a career on turning around failing businesses. But Barclays said his approach typically involves sacking senior managers and axing staff, which it said would cause more problems.

It also said Bramson had never before targeted banks, which are notoriously complicated to run.