Stress sees Barclays’ compliance chief quit post

Barclays said Sir Hector, who was on sick leave until the end of the year, stepped down after deciding he would not be able to return to work in the near term.

His departure comes less than a year after he took on the role of head of compliance, government and regulatory relations at the scandal-hit bank – a post he took on after a gruelling five years at the helm of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the run-up to and throughout the financial crisis.

Antony Jenkins, group chief executive at Barclays, said: “Although only with us for 10 months, he has made significant progress towards creating a world class compliance function at Barclays and in improving our relationships with regulators and governments.

“I know my colleagues will join me in expressing our appreciation to Hector, as well as wishing him a speedy recovery.”

Sir Hector’s health woes come after Lloyds Banking Group chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio also took two months off at the end of 2011 due to sleep deprivation and exhaustion.

Barclays has launched the search for a permanent replacement for Sir Hector, with Allen Meyer, head of compliance, corporate and investment banking taking on the job on an interim basis.

The bank is also looking for a chief operations and technology officer following the resignation of Shaygan Kheradpir to become chief executive of a company based in the United States.

The compliance role left by Sir Hector is seen as a crucial part of the overhaul being led by Mr Jenkins.

His appointment marked the first time the bank brought its compliance operations under the control of one person and followed its £290m fine last year for attempting to manipulate the Libor interbank lending rate – a scandal that threw the bank into turmoil and claimed the scalp of its former boss Bob Diamond.

The job involves liaising with regulators and government and to ensure rules are followed at the bank, with responsibility for monitoring questionable trad- ing.