Barclays raider faces grilling by bank watchdog

THE corporate raider taking aim at Barclays faces a grilling from the Bank of England if he is voted onto the lender’s board.

Edward Bramson could have to get through an interview with watchdogs if he wins a crunch vote of investors for a boardroom job.

The secretive New Yorker has forced the bank to hold a shareholder ballot on his plan to become a non- executive director at its annual meeting in May.

If he is supported by more than 50pc of voting shareholders, he will get the job – regardless of what Barclays bosses want.

But the Bank of England could be dragged into the battle because its Prudential Regulation Authority ( PRA) has to approve the appointment of all directors at large British lenders.

Non- executives at Barclays and major rivals must all be given the nod by the PRA, which oversees the stability of the financial system.

Candidates are required to fill out a form and could also be interviewed by the regulator’s staff to check they are a fit and proper person to be at the helm of a global lender.

Regulators will be reluctant to involve themselves in the battle between Bramson and Barclays’ current management.

But they are also likely to take a dim view of anything which causes division and turmoil at the top of one of the country’s largest banks.

Bramson has refused to set out detailed plans of what he would do if he gets a board seat, but he has been deeply critical of Barclays’ investment bank and is thought to be keen to cut its size.

The lender’s chief executive, Jes Staley, is a champion of investment banking and has focused heavily on competing with Wall Street rivals such as JP Morgan.

It is thought he would quit if ordered to make major changes to this strategy.

Bramson controls 5.51pc of Barclays through his fund Sherborne Investors, which has the financial backing of major City names including Aviva and Columbia Threadneedle.

But other Barclays shareholders are thought to be alarmed about his bid for a board seat.

It comes at a particularly tricky time because the bank is about to get a new chairman – Nigel Higgins, of Rothschild – who will want to set out his own agenda.

Several shareholders have reportedly suggested Bramson should pull back from trying to join the board himself.

Instead, they have proposed that a slate of independent directors should join the board.

Barclays shares rose 0.7pc, or 1.06p, to 161.58p yesterday.