Barclays CEO Venkatakrishnan To Stay Engaged In Bank After Cancer Diagnosis

C.S. Venkatakrishnan said he will continue to be engaged with running Barclays Plc during his treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

30 Nov 2022, 12:50 AM IST

C.S. Venkatakrishnan, chief executive officer of Barclays Plc, following a Bloomberg Television interview in London, UK, on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. “The investment bank has been what has kept Barclays flourishing and quite apart from many of our competitors,” he said on Bloomberg “Front Row” on Oct. 27, his first television interview since taking the top job a year ago.

(Bloomberg) -- C.S. Venkatakrishnan said he will continue to be engaged with running Barclays Plc during his treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

“Nobody likes to hear this diagnosis,” the Barclays chief executive officer said at the FT Global Banking Summit in a segment recorded Monday, the same day the bank revealed his diagnosis.

While acknowledging that treatment won’t be a “picnic,” Venkatakrishnan said his condition allows him to be “actively engaged” with the bank. He said Monday in a regulatory filing he was planning to continue work while receiving treatment, which he expects to last 12 to 16 weeks.

The Indian executive, who took the helm of Barclays a little more than a year ago, also said the bank will keep investing in its trading capabilities with markets expected to stay volatile in the next year. On investment banking, “what you’re beginning to see is a move away from equity capital markets issuance and activity, and more to some amount of debt possibly, and also to M&A,” Venkatakrishnan said.

The executive said he expects slightly more deal-making in 2023, but not “anywhere close” to 2021. Barclays’ corporate and investment bank made up about half of the group’s earnings in the third quarter of this year.

Barclays has benefited from rival Credit Suisse Group AG cutting back investment-banking activities as part of its restructuring, but more of that’s in the past than the future, according to Venkatakrishnan. “I personally believe it’s really important for there to be many strong banks around the world. We wish them well through the restructuring,” he said.

Asked about the UK government’s plan to scrap a cap on bankers’ bonuses, Venkatakrishnan said it was too early to say what the reform will change for his bank.

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With Barclays shares down about 14% so far this year, the bank is “possibly” seeing a trading discount due to its location in London and not New York like many of its competitors, Venkatakrishnan said, adding that UK investors could be less familiar with investment banking. “That’s on us. We’ve got to explain it,” he said.

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