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Incoming Barclays chairman John McFarlane to face “very challenging requirements”
Aviva chairman John McFarlane will face "very challenging requirements" in his new role as chairman of Barclays, said the man who recruited him today.
McFarlane, who is one of Scotland's most senior businessmen, will pick up the reins at Barclays' next AGM next April when incumbent Sir David Walker steps down.
He is being released from his role at Aviva and FirstGroup, where he is also chairman, in order to take on the new role.
Walker has been in situ since November 2012, in the wake of the Libor fixing scandal that led to the resignation of then-chair Marcus Agius and chief executive Bob Diamond.
Walker said: "We are making good progress toward the delivery of our strategic objectives and I have every confidence that John will work very successfully with [group chief executive] Antony Jenkins in leading this great bank through the next phase of that journey."
Sir John Sunderland, who led the headhunting process and is a non-executive director of the banking group, added:
The Barclays board set very challenging requirements for its new chairman and I am very pleased that in John McFarlane we have identified someone who met all of our criteria. John is an enormously experienced and respected banker with global experience of both retail and investment banking and he will bring great leadership, integrity and knowledge to the role.
McFarlane noted that under Walker's leadership “Barclays has made significant progress in putting in place the foundations for sustainable, long term success”.
McFarlane, who was chief executive of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group from 1997 to 2007, as well as executive director of Standard Chartered, will remain a non-executive director of Westfield Holdings Ltd and Old Oak Holdings Ltd.