Barclays' FD speaks out about his resignation

Naguib Kheraj has made a telling admission after deciding to step down from
his role as Barclays’ FD.

He left little room for interpretation when he said: ‘I don’t want to be a
finance director again any time soon,’ in a statement to
The
Times.

Rumours abound that Kheraj had become unhappy with the bureaucratic millstone
that accompanied the position, and will look to make inroads into the corporate
finance or private equity sectors.

Kheraj had been at the helm of Barclays’ financial operations since 1 January
2004, but announced his decision to resign from his post on 1 April 2007. He
becomes the third senior executive to leave the UK’s third largest bank within
the space of a year.

Chris Lucas, currently UK head of financial services and global head of
banking and capital markets at
PricewaterhouseCoopers,
has been lined up as his successor, joining on a basic salary of
£600,000 with a guaranteed cash bonus of £450,000 and £150,000 in shares. He
will also receive a recommended share award of £500,000 on joining.

Despite his resolve to leave Barclays, Kheraj could be paid until the end of
2007, nine months after he officially steps down, the banking colossus revealed.

A Barclays spokesperson said: ‘Naguib’s going to help Chris until the
handover. After June he’s going to be available and we would continue paying him
until the end of 2007 if he hasn’t found another during that period.’

According to Barclays’ latest
annual
report, as of 1 April 2006, the executive director’s base salary
stood at £700,000 excluding benefits and an annual cash bonus. It emerged that
Lucas – who last worked for Barclays in 2004 as PwC’s global relationship
partner for Barclays – may have joined sooner if not for accounting regulations
that mean he can only join when the 2006 results have been signed off.

‘He may have joined us earlier,’ admitted the spokesperson, ‘but the end of
the financial year is also a good time for a financial director to leave.’

Further reading:

Profile: Naguib Kheraj, Barclays’
non-accountant CFO

FD backs Barclays sell-off

Fastow to detail banks’ involvement in
Enron