John Silvester Varley

Last updated

John Varley
Born (1956-04-01) 1 April 1956 (age 67)
Warwick, England
Education Downside School
Alma mater Oriel College, Oxford
University of Law
OccupationBanker
Known for2017 SFO fraud charge
Titleformer CEO, Barclays
Term2004–11
Predecessor Matthew Barrett
Successor Bob Diamond
Spouse
Carolyn Thorn Pease
​
(m. 1984)​
Children2
Relatives Sir Richard Pease, 3rd Baronet (father-in-law)

John Silvester Varley (born 1 April 1956) is an English banker who was the group chief executive of Barclays from 2004 to 2011.

Contents

Early life

John Silvester Varley was born in Warwick. [1] His father, Philip, was a solicitor in Coventry. Varley was educated at the Catholic Downside School [2] at Stratton-on-the-Fosse south of Bath, becoming head librarian, then at Oriel College, Oxford (MA History), [2] and London's College of Law. [3]

Career

He became a solicitor with Frere Cholmeley (which became Frere Cholmeley Bischoff and was then bought by Eversheds in 1998) in 1979. [4]

Varley joined Barclays in 1982, as part of the Corporate Finance Department of the then Barclays Merchant Bank. [5] Senior appointments with the successor bank, BZW (now Barclays Capital), included deputy chief executive of BZW's Equity Division and head of BZW's offices in South East Asia. [5] In 1995 he became chairman of the Asset Management Division and from April 1998 to October 2000 was chief executive, retail financial services. [5] He joined the main Barclays board on 5 June 1998 and was group finance director from 2000 until the end of 2003.[ citation needed ]

On 1 January 2004, Varley became group deputy chief executive, and on 1 September 2004 he succeeded Matthew Barrett as group chief executive of Barclays. His annual salary from Barclays was £1,075,000. [6] On 1 January 2011 he was succeeded as chief executive by Robert Diamond.

As of 2013, Varley was a trustee of The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation. [7]

In June 2017, following a five-year investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office covering Barclays' activities during the financial crisis of 2007–2008, Varley and three former colleagues, Roger Jenkins, Thomas Kalaris and Richard Boath, were charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and the provision of unlawful financial assistance. [8] [9] [10] In June 2019, the SFO cleared Varley of fraud charges. [11]

Personal life

In 1981 he married Carolyn Thorn Pease, daughter of Sir Richard Pease, 3rd Baronet, and in so doing married into the Quaker Pease family, whose bank became part of Barclays in 1902. [12] [13]

His sister-in-law is the hedge fund manager Nichola Pease, who was married to hedge fund billionaire Crispin Odey. [14]

They have two children. [15] They live in Brook Green in Hammersmith, West London, and own a country house in Hampshire. [16] [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serious Fraud Office (United Kingdom)</span> Department of Government of United Kingdom that investigates and prosecutes complex fraud

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom that investigates and prosecutes serious or complex fraud and corruption in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The SFO is accountable to the Attorney General for England and Wales, and was established by the Criminal Justice Act 1987, an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Co-operative Bank</span> Retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom

The Co-operative Bank plc is a retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom, with its headquarters in Balloon Street, Manchester. Established as a bank for co-operators and co-operatives following the principles of the Rochdale Pioneers the business evolved over the twentieth century into a mid sized British high street bank operating throughout the UK mainland. Transactions took place at cash desks in co-op stores until the 1960s, when the bank set up a small network of branches that grew from 6 to a high of 160. Branches for residents of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands were closed in the 2010s during a significant rescaling exercise. As of 2023 it has 50 branches in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Diamond (banker)</span> Anglo-American banker and business executive

Robert Edward Diamond Jr. is an American banker and former chief executive officer of Barclays plc. In 2010, he became its president and deputy group chief executive; and in January 2011, succeeded John Varley as group chief executive of Barclays.

Standard Life is a life assurance, pensions and long-terms savings company in the UK which is owned by Phoenix Group.

Langbar International is a limited company that was listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange as Crown Corporation Limited in 2003 and was subsequently the biggest share fraud on the AIM to date. It was investigated by the Serious Fraud Office, the City of London Police, the Accountancy Investigation and Disciplinary Board and the subject of many civil legal actions in the High Court.

James Robert Crosby is an English banker. He was Deputy Chairman of the Financial Services Authority from January 2004 until he resigned on 11 February 2006. He had previously been the chief executive of Halifax Bank until its merger with Bank of Scotland to form HBOS, of which he was Chief Executive until 2006. On 3 December 2012, Crosby was required to appear before Britain's Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HBOS</span> United Kingdom banking and insurance company

HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland plc, which operated the Bank of Scotland and Halifax brands in the UK, as well as HBOS Australia and HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Limited, the group's insurance division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Hester</span> British banker (born 1960)

Sir Stephen Alan Michael Hester is an international businessman and former banker. He is Chairman of Nordea Bank and easyJet, and former chief executive officer (CEO) of RSA Insurance Group, part of the RBS Group and of British Land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyds Banking Group</span> British financial institution

Lloyds Banking Group is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds Bank was founded in 1765 but the wider Group's heritage extends over 320 years, dating back to the founding of the Bank of Scotland by the Parliament of Scotland in 1695.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hector Sants</span> British investment banker and financial regulator

Sir Hector William Hepburn Sants is a British investment banker. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Services Authority in July 2007 and stepped down in June 2012. He took up a new position with Barclays Bank at the end of January 2013, but resigned from the bank on 13 November 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jes Staley</span> American banker

James Edward "Jes" Staley is an American banker, and the former group chief executive of Barclays. He stepped down as CEO on November 1, 2021, and was succeeded by C. S. Venkatakrishnan. Staley has nearly four decades of experience in banking and financial services. He spent 34 years at J.P. Morgan's investment bank, ultimately becoming CEO. In 2013, he moved to BlueMountain Capital, and in December 2015, became CEO of Barclays. In November 2021, Staley resigned amid a regulatory probe into whether he mischaracterized his relationship with the financier, human trafficker, and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Roger Allan Jenkins is a British financier and former international athlete. He is the brother of former World no.1 ranked 400m runner, Olympic medalist, convicted drug runner, and informant David Jenkins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Sands (banker)</span>

Peter Alexander Sands is a British banker, and the executive director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He was the chief executive (CEO) of Standard Chartered from November 2006 to June 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barclays</span> British multinational banking and financial services company

Barclays plc is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services.

The Libor scandal was a series of fraudulent actions connected to the Libor and also the resulting investigation and reaction. Libor is an average interest rate calculated through submissions of interest rates by major banks across the world. The scandal arose when it was discovered in 2012 that banks were falsely inflating or deflating their rates so as to profit from trades, or to give the impression that they were more creditworthy than they were. Libor underpins approximately $350 trillion in derivatives. It is currently administered by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which took over running the Libor in January 2014.

Susan R. Kilsby is an American investment banker and businesswoman. She is the chairman of Shire.

Thomas Llewellyn Kalaris is a British banker, the former chief executive of Barclays wealth and investment management.

Richard Boath is a British banker, the former Barclays global co-head of finance.

Sir Richard Thorn Pease, 3rd Baronet, DL was a British banker, who was chairman of Yorkshire Bank, and vice-chairman of Barclays.

Richard Henry Meddings, is a British banker.

References

  1. ↑ Moore, Malcolm (17 September 2010). "Barclay's chief executive John Varley defends banking industry". Telegraph. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 Treanor, Jill (15 June 2007). "Ping pong-playing banker chases a world ranking". The Guardian . Retrieved 8 January 2008.
  3. ↑ Blackhurst, Chris. "The MT interview: John Varley". Managementtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  4. ↑ Jill Treanor (15 June 2007). "The Friday interview: John Varley, chief executive of Barclays | Business". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 "John Varley (Chief Executive 2004-2010) | Barclays Group Archives". Archive.barclays.com. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  6. ↑ "John Varley Profile". Forbes . Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  7. ↑ "About Us," The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation Archived 24 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine , accessed 1 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "Barclays charged with fraud in Qatar case - BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  9. ↑ Jill Treanor (1 January 1970). "Senior Barclays bankers charged with fraud over credit crunch fundraising | Business". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  10. ↑ Ben Martin, banking correspondent (16 June 2017). "Ex-Barclays boss faces 22 years jail if guilty of fraud". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "Former Barclays head cleared of fraud charges". BBC News. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  12. ↑ Carolyn Thorn Pease
  13. ↑ Jacques, Martin (23 April 2009). "The strangest bank of all". Newstatesman.com. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  14. ↑ "How The Pease Dynasty is linked to the credit crunch | Business". The Guardian. 7 December 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  15. ↑ 8:02AM BST 7 September 2010 (7 September 2010). "Barclays: John Varley biography". Telegraph. Retrieved 21 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ Evening Standard (21 January 2009). "The fat cats and their bonus bonanza | London Evening Standard". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  17. ↑ "The 4 former Barclays men charged with fraud by the SFO" . Financial Times . 20 June 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2019.

News items

Business positions
Preceded by Group Chief Executive of Barclays plc
2004–2010		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.