Sir David Walker, the new chairman of Barclays, is to undertake a wholesale review of the way the bank operates and has admitted that he agrees "in principle" with customers paying to use current accounts and the end of the free banking model. 
In his first interview as chairman, Sir David told The Sunday Telegraph that he wanted to see significant change at Barclays and revealed that he was not committed to any of former chief executive Bob Diamond's business plan "except getting it right".
Setting a 24-month deadline by which time he hopes the bank will be back on a firmer footing, Barclays' incoming chairman said his first priorities in the role would be the three Cs – a new chief executive, reformed compensation and a changed culture. He also wants to strengthen the board so it is better able to challenge the new chief executive.
Sir David, who was appointed on Thursday, said he wants to appoint two new board members and is in favour of Barclays remaining as a universal bank, retaining both its retail and investment banking arms. He said he would like to speed up the process of "ring-fencing" so that the bank is functionally separated before the 2019 deadline set by the Government.
In his most surprising admission, Sir David said that "in principle" he favours charging for bank accounts and services, arguing that had fees been in place the bank might have avoided some of the recent mis-selling in the UK industry.
He branded recent mis-selling episodes, such as interest rate swaps to small companies and payment protection insurance, as "the consequence of not charging for bank accounts".
"Because banks are not charging, it drives them inexorably into this sort of position," he said.
Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 3:47 am