Barclaycard International chief executive Sajed retires after year in role

Amer Sajed, who oversees Barclays Plc’s credit-card business, is retiring from the bank after less than a year in the role. Mr Sajed, 56, will step down in July and Barclays will look at internal and external options for the future leadership of its international consumer cards and payments business, the London-based bank said in a statement yesterday. The head of one of the bank’s most profitable businesses said he was retiring to “pursue a new passion” for the promotion of civil liberties.

Barclays Chairman John McFarlane has previously described Mr Sajed as Barclays’s “ace” as he and chief executive Jes Staley attempt to boost profitability, exiting businesses like African banking to grow more profitable businesses like Barclaycard. Promoted to run the unit in April 2016, Mr Sajed said in an interview with Bloomberg News in May he had the backing of Staley to expand in markets like the US and Germany.