Former Barclays boss faces politicians on Libor

The former Barclays director who told staff to lower their interest rate submissions following a misunderstanding with the Bank of England will give evidence to MPs today.

Canadian Jerry del Missier resigned as Barclays’ chief operating officer two weeks ago at the same time as Bob Diamond quit as chief executive.

He will appear before the Treasury Select Committee this afternoon to answer questions on the Libor-fixing scandal, while the chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Lord Adair Turner will also appear.

Mr del Missier was dragged into the affair when it emerged he had misinterpreted a conversation between Mr Diamond and Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker as an instruction to lower Libor submissions amid fears over Barclays’ financial health.

Mr Diamond, who has walked away with a year’s salary and pension cash contribution worth £2 million after waiving a potential £20 million in deferred shares, rejected claims that he was “less than candid” when he appeared before the committee last week.

In a note to Mr del Missier, Mr Diamond said Mr Tucker had relayed concerns from senior Whitehall figures, now known to be Downing Street chief of staff Sir Jeremy Heywood, over why Barclays’ Libor submissions were at the top end.

According to Barclays, Mr Diamond “did not believe he received an instruction from Paul Tucker or that he gave an instruction to Jerry del Missier.”

“However, Jerry del Missier concluded that an instruction had been passed down from the Bank of England not to keep Libors so high and he therefore passed down a direction to that effect to the submitters,” a statement said.

Barclays said there was no allegation by the authorities that this instruction was intended to manipulate the ultimate Libor rate.