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Barclays gets its man, again
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July 27, 1999: 7:21 a.m. ET
Canadian to head British bank; third CEO within a year
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Britain's Barclays Bank signed up its third chief executive in less than a year Tuesday -- and this time it hopes the boss will last.
The new boss of Britain's second-largest bank by market value will be Matthew Barrett, a 37-year veteran of Bank of Montreal, where he was chairman and chief operating officer until February this year.
London investors welcomed an end to a drawn-out affair that began in November, when Martin Taylor abruptly walked out of the CEO's hot seat. Barclays stock rose nearly 4 percent to 1,768 pence in London.
After the disastrous resignation in April of Michael O'Neill, recruited from BankAmerica only to give up the post on medical grounds just days before his official start, Barclays was under pressure to make an appointment.
After a decade as chairman and CEO of Bank of Montreal, Barrett decided to step down in February, but he remained as chairman to ensure an orderly succession. He was in charge of the bank when its proposed merger with Royal Bank of Canada was rejected by regulators earlier this year.
A Barclays spokesman denied Barrett was a second-choice candidate, saying "He came up on the radar when we first searched, but we couldn't get him [because of his role at Bank of Montreal], but then he came up again on the second search."
Back to his roots
Barclays expects 54-year old Barrett to remain in the top job for at least five years, and pointed out that he is returning to his roots; he started working for Bank of Montreal in London as a 17 year old, before transferring to Canada after five years.
Returning to Britain after several decades away does have some compensations, however. He will be paid a significant sum by British corporate standards, earning a base salary of 850,000 pounds per year -- with options, bonuses, pension payments and moving allowance likely to increase that figure more than fivefold.
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