barclays will ge coming out with trading update on 07.05.2009 It is expected to report profits higher than market expectations.

A good Buy Medium to Long term

.

Analyst Ian Gordon:
"Cashing out Blackrock: sensible not transformational, 21st May, one of Barclays’ greatest triumphs was the December 2009 disposal of Barclays Global Investors to Blackrock, crystalising a disposal gain of £6.3bn. This substantially adressed a need to accelerate Barclays’ capital build as well as representing a near top-of-the-market disposal. In comparision, today’s pricing of the disposal of Barclays residual stake is much less material, but satisfactory all the same. We believe that Barclays’ motivation for the transaction was to avoid the more aggressive capital allocation which would have attached to its Blackrock stake under Basel 3, as well as candid recognition that the market was giving Barclays’ share price absolutely no credit for the “earnings diversification” afforded by its residual Blackrock ownership. As such, an exit at “par” is understandable, even if today’s “par” is c.22% below Blackrock’s 31 March 2012 share price of US$205.
For us, the Barclays story remains largely “as we were” – a bank for which RoE will disappoint against Management’s own aspirations, but not the market’s more realistic expectations, and where the ongoing drag of specific risk issues (e.g. Spain) is adequately reflected in our (and consensus) expectations. Barclays still trades below 0.5x current tNAV which is, we believe, the wrong price for a defensively positioned, well capitalised and solidly profitable bank.
Our unchanged TP of 240p equates to 0.6x tNAV – an appropriate discount for an extended period of subdued RoEs, and suggests 27% absolute share price upside plus dividend support. We remain Buyers.

BARC will be interesting today.

Dishonest bankers at it again...



The Treasury is preparing to make a statement on events at Barclays as pressure mounts on boss Bob Diamond after £290m penalties were slapped on the bank for manipulating crucial interest rates that affect borrowing costs for millions of customers around the world.

As Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury select committee, pledged to call Diamond to give evidence to MPs, the Barclays chief executive was facing calls to step down.

The chancellor George Osborne will make a statement to MPs at 12.15pm in which he is expected to criticise Labour's "light touch" approach to regulation.

Barclays shares were among the biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 on Thursday morning, sliding 5% to 185p. HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland also saw their shares move lower.

The former chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland Sir George Mathewson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that as Diamond was one of the highest-earning bosses there were "very high expectations of him".

He added: "If senior management knew what was going on they deserve all they are going to get."

Sir Martin Taylor, a former boss of Barclays ousted more than a decade ago, told Today the Barclays board faced questions about restoring the bank's reputation. "Someone at senior level would have known … Really it's a matter for the board to decide … whether he [Diamond] can be the person to turn the page on this."

"He is a great leader," Taylor added. "If he can help clean out the stables … only the board can decide that."

Politicians have rounded on the bank. Tyrie described Barclays' activities as "inexcusable", while the shadow Treasury minister, Chris Leslie, asked whether there should be a criminal investigation.

Lord Myners, a former City minister under Labour, told Newsnight: "This behaviour will only change if people face the prospect of criminal charges."

The Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott said Diamond should quit: "This does terrible damage to Barclays' own reputation, the integrity of the City of London and many people's waning trust in capitalism and free markets …

"He's got to go and Barclays must be broken up – it's far too dangerous in these dangerous times."

Diamond and the Barclays chairman, Marcus Agius, spent Wednesday talking to shareholders – some of whom had already been concerned about the board following the row over Diamond's £17m pay package last year.

Diamond – who has taken home nearly £100m since 2006 – was under fire after the Financial Services Authority fined the bank £59.5m, the largest penalty ever levied by the City regulator, forcing him and other top executives to forgo any bonuses for 2012.

The FSA, and authorities in the US who hit Barclays with penalties of £230m, described repeated breaches of rules dating back to 2005. They involved "a significant number of employees", including senior managers, and called into question the integrity of the markets.

The regulators described how senior management knew about the activities of traders and "submitters" who provided crucial information to an international set of interest rates. But the FSA does not say who these managers are and has no evidence that Diamond – who ran the division at the time – knew about the actions of a number of staff.

The penalties levied on Barclays are part of an international investigation involving a number of banks – including RBS and Lloyds Banking Group – into interest rates known as the London interbank offered rate (Libor) and the Euro interbank offered rate (Euribor). The rates play a key role in determining the cost of borrowing for households and companies.

Barclays' name has been tainted by Bob Diamond... he should just resign.

Gissa job!

Not looking good at all today.

markymar------He's always looked a smarmy b-----d to me. Oh and yes the markets aren't doing very well either.
2517

buy opportunity at 150p anyone??

sorry, chart in header not up to date, can see it's already in the 170's

It’s a mess and I think we are on the tip of an ice berg with it, the Sunday papers and media have just started pointing the finger all over.

Heads will roll other banks will be investigated and criminal charges may follow.

In summary I think this share has further to fall in the coming week in a gloomy market

No wonder BARC sp looks so artificially high all this while with all these corrupt bankers manipulating its accounts... sub 100p looks more worthy.

Would be tempted to have a punt at somewhere around 140p.

12 month low is 133.90p :-)

UK drafts in fraud squad as Libor fine hits Barclays

LONDON | Thu Jun 28, 2012 4:03pm BST
(Reuters) - Britain said on Thursday it had brought in the fraud squad to investigate possible crimes and would tighten laws over attempts to manipulate lending rates, a scandal which has engulfed Barclays and is expected to spread to other banks.

Shares in Barclays tumbled as much as 18 percent at one point by midday trade, wiping out 4.2 billion pounds from its share price - the biggest one-day fall since 2009, according to Reuters data. Shares were down 14.8 percent at 3.23 p.m.

Shine on you crazy diamond

The boss of Barclays has insisted he will not resign after staff rigged the key lending rate between banks.

Bob Diamond was speaking at a meeting of analysts at US bank, Morgan Stanley.

And in a letter agreeing to give evidence to MPs, Mr Diamond condemned the inappropriate behaviour of a "small number" of employees who had tried to make profits for their own benefit.

.

fill yer boots , dyor blah blah ... u in yet skinny ?

..Barclays Group Chairman 'To Stand Down'
Sky News – 2 hours 2 minutes ago.........Related Content.
....Sky sources say Marcus Agius is going to resign tomorrow as the group chairman of Barclays following the row over fixing of the inter-bank lending rate.

The bank's chief executive Bob Diamond is due to be questioned by MPs about the affair on Wednesday.

..Barclays chairman Marcus Agius to step down

By Philip Aldrick | Telegraph – 14 minutes ago
The interest rate rigging scandal at Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) will claim its first casualty on Monday with the departure of chairman Marcus Agius.

Mr Agius is expected to announce his intention to step down in the wake of fierce shareholder and political pressure over the bank’s “misconduct”. Barclays was fined a record £290m last week for attempting to manipulate the inter-bank lending rate, Libor, between 2005 and 2009.

Shareholders, politicians and the public have been dismayed by the latest evidence of abuse within Britain’s financial industry and are clamouring for action.

At least two of Barclays’ leading shareholders have criticised management. Over the weekend, Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, urged investors to “get a stronger grip” and kick out bad directors in the wake of what he called “systemic abuse” at Barclays.

Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), said the scandal had been a “huge shock to the reputation of the banking industry” and that it had “justifiably angered people”.

Mr Agius, chairman for the past five years, is believed to be hoping his departure will serve as a lightning rod to conduct anger away from the bank and its chief executive Bob Diamond, who is facing calls to resign. He is expected to announce his intention to leave on Mondahy though it could be delayed briefly but to stay in place until a replacement is found to ensure an orderly succession.

Mr Agius, 65, a former investment banker at Lazard, had been planning to retire next year but shareholder fury over the Libor scandal and Mr Diamond’s pay package, which was opposed by almost a third of investors at April’s annual meeting, have convinced him to leave early. Shareholders have accused him of being too supine.

Sir Mike Rake, chairman of BT (LSE: BT-A.L - news) and Barclays’ senior independent director, is a leading candidate to replace him.

Mr Agius has been under pressure since Barclays was forced to cave in to investor outrage earlier this year and alter Mr Diamond’s £2.7m bonus. A top 20 shareholder told The Sunday Telegraph that “in recent years, the board, including the chairman, appear to have acted as agents of the executive rather than the top governing body”.

Barclays’ outgoing chairman is due to appear before the Treasury Select Committee to answer questions on the rate-fixing scandal on Thursday, the day after Mr Diamond is scheduled to be quizzed by MPs (BSE: MPSLTD.BO - news) . Mr Diamond is also under intense pressure.

The political establishment has refused to back the Barclays chief executive and Andrew Bailey at the Bank of England has suggested that senior management may have to be held accountable if the bank is to regain trust. Leading shareholders have also said Mr Diamond should go.

News of Mr Agius’s imminent departure came as it emerged that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the 14 Barclays traders at the heart of the rate scandal. The threat of criminal prosecutions in the US has sparked a debate about the UK response. Lord Turner argued for so-called “more heads will roll” powers for UK regulators. “Steps were made a few years ago to give us the ability to bring criminal charges in areas of market abuse, but they did not cover the Libor market,” he said. “ It has been a gradual strengthening over time, but I don’t think it’s gone far enough.”

Other banks are expected to be caught up in the scandal. Royal Bank of Scotland sacked four traders last year over their alleged role in Libor fixing. Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY.L - news) has also disclosed it dismissed staff over the issue.

..