23rd Apr 2015 12:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - Barclays PLC's Chairman David Walker Thursday urged the bank's shareholders not to be disheartened as they see further "issues" emerge this year, as Chief Executive Anthony Jenkins said he expects to make "significant, through sometimes difficult" progress in resolving the issues that have hampered the bank since the financial crisis.
In a statement to the bank's annual general meeting Walker told shareholders: "There will be further issues to resolve this year. I urge you not to be disheartened when you see these as they emerge".
"This is simply further evidence of our commitment to deal with the past and, most importantly, learn from it," he said, as he highlighted all the steps Barclays has taken to improve its reputation and financial position in the last couple of years.
"By working more closely and proactively with our regulators than ever before, we will also move towards greater resilience, transparency and sustainability," the Chairman added.
CEO Jenkins said the bank's priority in 2015 remains to strengthen its capital position, while resolving the issues it faces remains an important part of the plan.
"I expect that we will make significant, though sometimes difficult, progress in this area in 2015," he said of the issues.
"We are grateful for your continued patience and support while we deal with these matters - support which we do not take for granted," Jenkins told shareholders.
Incoming Chairman John McFarlane hit out at the UK government's bank levy in his letter to shareholders, which Chancellor of the Exchequer again recently increased.
"Significantly, we will also be forced to absorb the burden of the recently increased UK bank levy on our global liabilities, which prior to this was already a significant drag on our returns, and, beyond this, it reduces the returns from our overseas activities compared with non-UK competitors,2 McFarlane said.
"All of this has, and continues to require, considerable management and Board attention, with consequent significant restructuring cost and regulatory fines, much of which is non-tax deductible," he added.
McFarlane also said the bank's weak current position had left it unable to pursue some of the growth opportunities that it has.
"We do have a number of growth options. Unfortunately we are not able to pursue as many of them as we would wish in earnest, as we currently need to allocate significant resources to other priorities. We need to get ourselves into a position where we can pursue more of them," he wrote in his letter.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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