What is committed Roman Catholic John Varley’s view on the new Pope, Benedict XVI, a controversial figure due to his former role as the Vatican’s chief theologian? Unfortunately, that segment of the interview with the chief executive of the 10th largest bank in the world by market capitalisation, was off the record. But just as interesting, if less esoteric, are recent events at Barclays.
The third largest bank in the UK with assets of $992bn is seeing “wondrous growth prospects,” in the words of its leader, a 49-year-old table tennis enthusiast. First-half profits in 2005 grew 9% to £2.69bn over the same period last year, with two units, its investment bank Barclays Capital and its investment management unit Barclays Global Investors (BGI), contributing more than 50% of pre-tax profit growth.
