Former Barclays Chief Executive Diamond Remains in the Rough

Bob Diamond, former CEO of Barclays Bank BCS, has been accused of misleading a parliamentary inquiry. It is the story that doesn't want to go away. On July 2, Benzinga reported that company Chairman Marcus Agius had resigned in the middle of the bank's rate-fixing scandal. The previous week, Barclays had been fined $453 million for rate fixing after emails were made public showing very clearly that Barclays staff knew that they were doing wrong. The bank was fined for manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) between 2005 and 2009. The AP says that the Libor, "is calculated daily by the British Bankers' Association, based on lending rate figures submitted by global banks." However, some members of Barclays staff adjusted those figures to boost profits. Agius was followed the next day by Diamond, Benzinga reported. In his resignation statement, Diamond explained that his decision came as a result of "the external pressure [that] has reached a level that risks damaging the franchise – I cannot let that happen. [I am] deeply disappointed that the impression created by the events of last week about what Barclays and its people stand for could not be further from the truth.” On July 5, Benzinga reported that Diamond had told a parliamentary hearing that he doesn't feel personal culpability for the rate-fixing, but he does feel responsibility. Diamond told the committee, "A number of banks were posting rates that were significantly below ours that we didn't think were correct. I can't sit here and say no one in the industry didn't know about the problems with Libor. There was an issue out there and it should have been dealt with more broadly.” "I am sorry, angry and disappointed,” Mr. Diamond told the committee. “There's no excuse for the traders' actions. This is wrong, and I'm not happy about it." On Wednesday, Reuters revealed that Diamond has been accused by British lawmakers of misleading the parliamentary committee. Diamond called the claims "unfair and unfounded." Committee Chairman Andrew Tyrie commented in the committee on inconsistencies between Diamond's statements and the written evidence that it holds. "It will look to us, and frankly it will look to everybody listening, like another example of a complete lack of candor to parliament by the Chief Executive of Barclays," Tyrie said. Diamond, writing to Tyrie, stated, "Having watched the committee's session today, I was dismayed that you and some of your fellow committee members appear to have suggested that I was less than candid with the committee last week. The comments made at today's hearing have had a terribly unfair impact on my reputation, which is of paramount concern to me." This saga would seem to be far from over. Shares of Barclays were trading at $10.27 at the time of posting, up 0.10 percent from Tuesday's market close. Follow me @BCallwood.