Bramson lays into Barclays’ new chairman

THE corporate raider targeting Barclays has claimed the bank’s new chairman lacks experience and will need his help to run the business.

Activist investor Edward Bramson (pictured) said Nigel Higgins, a former top investment banker at Rothschild, has not spent enough time running big companies.

In comments likely to raise eyebrows at Barclays, 68-yearold Bramson said his expertise turning around other companies could help Higgins, 58, get to grips with his new job.

Bramson warned that the lender could be forced to raise billions of pounds more from investors – and even compared Barclays to struggling Deutsche Bank.

The raider – who has never been in charge of a bank before – is campaigning for investors to vote him onto Barclays’ board as a non-executive director at the annual meeting next month.

In a letter to shareholders, his fund Sherborne Investors said Higgins ‘appears to be limited to advisory or mergers and acquisitions work in a firm that is family- controlled’. The letter stated that Bramson ‘would be able to offer support and advice in dealing with the capital, organisational, and other issues’ Higgins will face.

Bramson also said that without radical cuts at its investment bank Barclays could be forced to raise billions more from its shareholders. He controls a 5.51pc stake in the bank through Sherborne Investors, and claims his expertise can transform its fortunes. But critics argue he has failed to set out a clear plan of action, and he is not expected to win enough support to get a seat.

Bramson is thought to favour deep cut at the investment bank and the closure of parts of its business. He claimed that Barclays

is in a similar plight to Deutsche, which has seen its share price plummet and is struggling to turn a profit due to the weak eurozone economy.

‘It should be a cautionary sign to the board that Barclays and Deutsche Bank have similar strategic weaknesses and have pursued similar product and customer strategies, resulting in revenue yields that are identical,’ Bramson said.

The plans are strongly opposed by chief executive Jes Staley, who is determined to compete with Wall Street in the US and European investment banking.

But Bramson warned that the lender could see its credit rating downgraded unless it improves, making the cost of any fundraising more expensive. And he said poor performance in the division was behind a 24pc fall in Barclays’ share price over the past year.

Sources close to Barclays said there was nothing new in Bramson’s letter and that other shareholders’ reaction to it had been muted. But the bank declined to comment.