Barclays prepares to name Anna Cross as first female chief financial officer
Barclays is reportedly lining up Anna Cross as its next chief financial officer, in a positive step for gender diversity in top UK banking roles.
The British banking giant is planning to officially announce Cross’ new role in the coming months with sources suggesting that the appointment could be made public as soon as tomorrow when Barclays is due to publish its annual results, Sky News first reported.
Cross, who has worked at Barclays for several years, will replace Tushar Morzaria, who has held the role for more than eight years. The promotion would make Cross the first woman to hold any of the top three roles at Barclays which include chief financial officer, chief executive officer and chairman.
Women are sorely under represented at Europe’s top 50 banks according to a December study by Boston Consulting Group.
Only five of Europe’s 50 largest banks have female chief executives while women take up just 19 per cent of executive board positions according to data from Boston Consulting Group. Three quarters of the largest banks have a wide pay gap with women in executive positions earning less than male colleagues.
Barclays’ leadership has faced a turbulent year with former boss Jes Staley stepping down to contest the findings of a regulatory probe into his relationship with former financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Barclays has not responded to Morning Wire’s request for comment at press time.
Read more: Former Barclays boss Staley pressed JPMorgan to keep Epstein as client