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July 12, 2012
Did Barclays' Bob Diamond lie to Parliament? "I can't comment," says his former boss
Atlantic Yards Report
The revelations continue regarding Barclays, and especially recently-departed Chief Executive Bob Diamond, the man behind the Barclays Center naming rights deal, and they aren't so flattering.
From today's print New York Times, Parliament Questions Culture at Barclays:
LONDON — During his tenure as chief executive of Barclays, Robert E. Diamond Jr. spoke passionately about creating a strong culture of integrity and trust, a common philosophy that would breed success at the big British Bank. In a speech last year, he emphasized that the “evidence of culture is how people behave when no one is watching.”
But now Mr. Diamond, who stepped down last week, faces criticism about his leadership as Barclays deals with fallout from a scandal involving interest rate manipulation.
...Did Diamond lie?
The article continues by raising questions about whether Diamond lied to Parliament:
The correspondence between Barclays and British regulators appears to contradict evidence that Mr. Diamond gave last week to the same parliamentary committee.
In his testimony, Mr. Diamond indicated that the bank maintained a good relationship with the British regulator. He also said that he did not recall that the regulator had raised concerns about the bank’s activities or its internal culture.
“I knew nothing about it at the time that I was appointed,” Mr. Diamond told the parliamentary committee last week.
British politicians repeatedly asked Mr. Agius on Tuesday whether Mr. Diamond had been completely forthcoming during his testimony.
“Would you say that Mr. Diamond lied to this committee?” David Ruffley, a member of Parliament, asked Mr. Agius.
“I can’t comment on Mr. Diamond’s testimony,” the Barclays chairman said.
Related content...
rumur via Vimeo, Barclays Center ground breaking
With the Libor scandal taking off I went back to look at the official groundbreaking footage. I first clipped Bloomberg's quote that no one is going to remember how long it took, because we believe the film will make sure that's not the case. I then happened upon Marty Markowitz calling Carl Kruger Brooklyn's most powerful politician. A year later he was in jail on corruption charges. Bob Diamond then speaks about Barclay Bank's values. The Libor scandal shows a corrupt value system.
NoLandGrab: Bob Diamond was completely truthful about one thing — the Barclays Center fits perfectly "with the ethos and the values of Barclays."
Posted by eric at July 12, 2012 12:44 PM