Shareholders set to revolt in vote for Barclays boss

BARCLAYS is facing a revolt by more than a fifth of its shareholders over the reappointment of its chief executive, following the recent whistleblowing scandal at the bank.

Top consultancy Institutional Shareholder Services, which advises investors who own almost a quarter of Barclays shares, has advised them to abstain or vote against the re-election of Jes Staley at this week’s annual meeting.

ISS is regarded as the world’s leading shareholder advisory firm. A significant vote against Staley or even a sizable abstention will weaken the embattled boss. Staley is awaiting the outcome of an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority over his attempt to unmask a whistleblower.

Votes against executives are unusual in the UK, where shareholder pressure is more commonly focused on boardroom pay.

Figures from PIRC, another voting advisory group, which helps UK local authority pension funds, show that more than 90 per cent of directors in the UK were backed by more than 95 per cent of shareholders in 2016.

PIRC is advising investors to back Staley’s reappointment.

‘Without clear facts in the public domain this is a matter for the Barclays board, in particular the chairman, to handle,’ it said.

Staley is under pressure because he intervened to try to uncover the identity of an anonymous whistleblower who raised concerns over the conduct of a Barclays executive. Staley has said he believed the concerns amounted to a ‘unfair personal attack’.

Staley has admitted the attempt was an error and the board of Barclays has already docked his bonus. But this week’s meeting will be the first time shareholders will be able to formally show their feeling on the issue.

Paul Moore, a former risk boss at HBOS, who himself blew the whistle on that bank’s risky lending, told The Mail on Sunday last month that Staley should be sacked. ‘Trying to find out the identity of an anonymous whistleblower where the motivation is obviously to try to crush them is gross misconduct,’ he said.

Politicians including Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron have weighed in to the row too, with Farron saying Staley will have to go if regulators find evidence of ‘serious wrongdoing’.

Some investors have said they do not believe Staley can survive, amid investigations on both sides of the Atlantic. New York’s Department of Financial Services is also looking into the issue.

Staley’s internal security team had tried to enrol the help of the US Postal Service to identify the whistleblower. A security source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The big retail banks have moved from having hundreds of security staff to thousands over the last five years.’

Barclays declined to comment.