Business - New Barclays FD pledges to restructure

New Barclays Bank finance director David Allvey has pledged to focus on restructuring business units to enhance efficiency and keep costs low.

Allvey will become a key figure on Barclays’ executive team who will lead changes to integrate the four units of Retail Financial Services, Corporate Banking, Barclays Capital and Barclays Global Investors. He will join the bank on 1 September.

Moves to cut costs have already made headway in streamlining operations hit by poor overseas investment returns from Russia. Allvey hinted the bank is eyeing opportunities to expand overseas, particularly in Europe and the Far East.

Speaking to Accountancy Age he said his background in insurance and financial information would enable him to improve customer services by making packages more tailored to financial needs.

‘Most financial services companies have data coming out of every room but we are generally not very good at identifying what is useful,’ Allvey said.

He continues as a member of the Accounting Standards Board where he is well-placed to influence the current debate on accounting for financial instruments.

The issue has dogged standard setters for years as they seek to find a measure to account for a huge range of financial products. Any resolution would have serious implications for the way banks operate accounting systems.