The string of crisis-era exits came after the whole industry ploughed into a wall; the latest round of defenestrations has come as investors question why, seven years after Lehman Brothers collapsed, their money is still worth less in the hands of the lords of capitalism than stuffed under the mattress.
But the three years Barclays spent under Antony Jenkins, culminating in his ejection by the board on Wednesday, still stands out as a dark time.
The shares have gone resolutely sideways, while the investment bank has endured a string of senior departures in corporate finance and sweeping cuts in FX and bond trading. Rivals, clients and departing bankers question what the firm is up to. Does it just want to trim the most cruelly capital-consumptive assets, or does it want to retreat from full service investment banking entirely?
The bank’s “cultural change” agenda has been in full swing – but was a boss who came up from the credit cards division the right man to deliver it? A business which relies on keeping customers hooked on short term revolving debts costing 20% might not be as cuddly as the retail/investment banking dichotomy implies.
Just as damaging has been the mood music. Barclays’ performance did not support the Dimon/Blankfein school of middle-finger public relations, but Jenkins managed to antagonise politicians and the public without inspiring (or paying) the troops.
New executive chairman John McFarlane wants a “hard driving, energetic and high performance” Barclays where business heads have freedom and direct responsibility. Jenkins wanted Project Transform to turn it into a “go-to” bank.
But perhaps the challenge facing Jenkins was beyond anyone.
The pre-crisis core of Barclays Capital was deposit fuelled, high leverage bond and derivative trading – the exact business model in the centre of regulatory gunsights. The conduct issues which kept on coming were not Jenkins’ fault either, and settling early might prove prudent in the long run.
But for now, Barclays has the chance to make a new start.
There’s a new investment bank strategy coming at the end of the month, and though McFarlane has no magic wand to make the existential regulatory issues facing the industry disappear, he has fire in his belly and a full-throated commitment to the business he finds himself running.
Best of luck to the new CEO, whoever it may be.