Barclays Bank chairman Sir Gerry Grimstone to step down later this month
The chairman of Barclays’ investment arm Sir Gerry Grimstone will step down at the end of the month, the bank said today.
Grimstone, chairman of Barclays Bank PLC – the group’s non-ring-fenced investment banking wing – has been a member of the bank’s board since 2016 and will also step down as a non-executive director.
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His departure comes ahead of a shareholder vote on activist investor Ed Bramson’s bid for a seat on the board.
Bramson has called for Barclays to scale back on its investment bank but his concerns have so far fallen on deaf ears.
The bank doubled down on efforts to scupper the US-based investor’s attempts to muscle his way onto the board and delivered better-than-expected in its investment banking unit yesterday.
Bramson, the head of Sherborne Investors, which holds more than five per cent of the bank’s shares will meet Barclays executives next month ahead of the shareholder vote in May.
Grimstone, who recently stepped down as chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen, said he was leaving Barclays “in very good shape.”
He added that he would focus on public sector activities in the UK and his work with Deloitte in Europe.
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The bank said incoming Barclays chairman Nigel Higgins, set to take up the role on 1 March, would take on Grimstone’s chairmanship of Barclays Bank PLC.
Chief executive Jes Staley said: “I am deeply grateful to Sir Gerry for the support and counsel he has provided me personally, as well as for his immense contribution to the turnaround of our corporate and investment bank in particular.”