Barclays 2015 Annual Report Download - page 43

home.barclays/annualreport Barclays PLC Annual Report 2015 I 41
“In asking the Chairman to take on executive
responsibilities…we were mindful of the need
to ensure that our Board governance
arrangements remained effective.”
Dear Fellow Shareholders
In early July 2015, we announced the departure of Antony Jenkins as
Group Chief Executive and the appointment of John McFarlane as
Executive Chairman, pending the appointment of a new Group Chief
Executive. The non-executive Directors had reflected long and hard on
the issue of Group leadership and had concluded that new leadership,
bringing a new set of skills, was required to accelerate the pace of
execution going forward. These events were extensively reported at the
time and, rather than revisit them, I would simply like to reiterate here
the Board’s appreciation of Antony’s contribution at what was a critical
period for Barclays.
In asking the Chairman to take on executive responsibilities, albeit for an
interim period, we were mindful of the need to ensure that our Board
governance arrangements remained effective and to maintain an
appropriate balance of responsibilities on the Board and in the running of
the Company until such time as a new Group Chief Executive was
appointed. I wanted to give you my perspective on how we approached
that and, in particular, how my role as Deputy Chairman and Senior
Independent Director evolved during this time.
First, as Executive Chairman, John McFarlane relinquished his
membership of the principal Board Committees on which he served, to
ensure they continued to be composed solely of non-executive Directors
and without any impediment to their ability to provide independent and
constructive challenge to executive management. Specifically, John
stood down as Chairman of both the Board Nominations Committee and
the Board Reputation Committee and I became Chairman of both
committees in his place.
Secondly, I took primary responsibility for the search for a new Group
Chief Executive, leading the Board Nominations Committee through this
process. As the relationship between the Chairman and Group Chief
Executive is pivotal to the effectiveness of the Board, John worked closely
with me during this process and his insight and guidance on the skills
and qualities we needed in the new Group Chief Executive was
invaluable. During the search process, I reported regularly to my
non-executive colleagues on the Board on progress and on potential
candidates, ensuring that they had the opportunity to provide their
views and feedback. You can read more about the search for our new
Group Chief Executive on page 65. We announced in late October 2015
that Jes Staley would join the Board as Group Chief Executive with effect
from 1 December 2015. John subsequently resumed his chairmanship of
the Board Nominations Committee, however, I continued to chair the
Board Reputation Committee for the remainder of 2015.
Thirdly, my general interaction with our main stakeholders – our major
shareholders and our regulators in the UK and US – increased during the
period that John served as Executive Chairman.
Finally, I also maintained close contact with both John and members of
senior management to ensure there were no significant issues arising
from a governance perspective during this period.
2015 was my last year on the Barclays Board. I joined the Board in
January 2008 and served through an eventful and difficult period for
both Barclays and the financial services industry as a whole. Barclays
announced in October 2015 that I would retire from the Board with
effect from 31 December 2015 and I have spent time with my successor
as Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent Director, Sir Gerry
Grimstone, to ensure a smooth handover. I have been proud to serve on
the Barclays Board and wish my fellow Directors continuing success for
the future.
Sir Michael Rake
Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent Director until
31 December 2015
What we did in 2015
Statement from Sir Michael Rake
Deputy Chairman until 31 December 2015
Board allocation of time (%)
2015 2014
1
2
3
41Strategy formulation and
implementation monitoring
56 47
2Finance (incl. capital and liquidity) 11 17
3Governance and Risk (incl. regulatory issues) 29 32
4Other (incl. compensation) 44
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