Bob Diamond To Get Rough Ride From MPs

Mr Diamond and his -hand man Jerry del Missier both quit with immediate as the storm surrounding the Libor fixing dragged the Bank of England.

The multimillionaire former Barclays head is to face the powerful Treasury select committee.

his appearance before the committee of MPs, chaired by the Tory Andrew Tyrie - expected to lead a parliamentary inquiry banking - the former boss will attempt to account the sequence of events 2005 and 2009, when the bank tried to fix the London interbank offered rate (Libor) its favour.

Tuesday Mr Diamond implicated the Bank of England in the scandal by revealing details of a phonecall he had with BoE deputy governor Paul Tucker that ultimately led to some staff attempting to fix Libor.

Barclays said Mr Diamond's account of the conversation wrongly interpreted by Mr del Missier, then a senior manager investment arm Barclays Capital, as instruction to lower the bank's Libor submissions.

Marcus Agius, the former chairman resigned over the affair on Monday, refused to comment a report that this happened because Barclays was told in October 2008 the deputy governor of the Bank of England Paul Tucker Barclays did not have to submit its Libor rates high as it had done.

But MPs may see this revelation an attempt by Mr Diamond and Barclays to attention away from the bank's attempts to fix the Libor in its from 2005 onwards.

A submission the bank to the committee before Mr Diamond's appearance denies senior management had any knowledge attempts to manipulate the Libor, saying no- above desk supervisor level had idea what was going on.

an interview with Sky's Jeff Randall, Mr Agius said Mr Diamond's resignation came after "elastic snapped".

On Monday, Mr Diamond had told staff he had no intention leaving his post - saying it was his responsibility restore the bank's reputation.

Mr Agius had resigned to try to take the flack off the Barclays boss - a move had precisely the oppposite effect.

But it is understood Mr Diamond changed his on Monday night following a conversation involving Mr Agius and the bank's deputy chairman Sir Michael Rake the intense political pressure Barclays.

In a bizarre of events, Mr Agius has temporarily reinstated to the role he resigned just one day earlier to lead the search for Mr Diamond's successor.

Mr Agius has admitted knowing about the Libor-fixing attempts two years as the Financial Service Authority and other agencies investigated the bank's actions.

George Osborne, is pushing for the parliamentary probe into banking standards, said Mr Diamond had the "right decision" for the bank and for the country.

The Treasury launched a consultation the possibility of introducing a new criminal offence covering serious misconduct in bank management.

Ed Miliband backed Mr Diamond's departure, but continued to for a full judicial inquiry into banking culture and accused the PM failing to recognise "the gravity and scale of this crisis".


Adapted and abridged from: Sky News, July 4, 2012.