by Richard Horton

Barclays boss Bob Diamond talked at length about “pay for performance” during his stint in front of the treasury select committee on Tuesday. And perform he did. Yesterday’s papers inevitably focused on his handling of questions on the twin topics of bonuses for investment bankers and lending to retail customers. And while there was good copy to be had in his assertion that no minister has yet looked him straight in the eye and asked Barclays to restrain bonuses, the real story was sat next to him in the form of Antony Jenkins, chief executive of global retail banking.

AJ – as he is known by his friends and colleagues at Barclays – is in charge of the banking that you and I do on the high street or on the internet. However, his boss comes from an investment banking background, what committee chair, Andrew Tyrie, called “casino banking”. Diamond didn’t like the use of that term and made his feelings known to the committee. In fact, Diamond was so strident in his responses to the committee’s questions that AJ could barely get a word in edgeways. That in itself  speaks volumes about the dynamic between retail and investment banking. AJ was there to fire stats about lending to small businesses and customer satisfaction levels. To provide the necessary statistical liquidity to support his boss, just like retail banking deposits provide monetary liquidity for “casino banking” activities. (more…)