Barclays has appointed Antony Jenkins as its new chief executive, to replace Bob Diamond, who left amid the rate-fixing scandal at the bank.

Jenkins, who promised to “restore Barclays reputation”, was appointed just as the Serious Fraud Office announced it was to launch an investigation into payments made in 2008, after the bank received £2bn in emergency funds from Qatar Holding. 

The SFO’s inquiry relates to the disclosure of fees paid to the sovereign investor but neither Barclays nor the SFO released further details of the investigation.

It is the latest in a string of bad headlines at the bank. Diamond and the former chairman Marcus Agius left Barclays after it was fined a record amount by the Financial Services Authority and international regulators for manipulating the interbank lending rates.

Jenkins, 51, was formerly head of retail and business banking at Barclays, and will be seen as a “safer” appointment to steer the bank into more settled time. He has worked at Barclays for nearly 30 years, and his new pay package could be worth up to £8.25m.

This story can be read in full at economia [2].