Barclays' share price dwindles as boss called to resign

Barclays shares have floundered on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) today (June 28th), as boss Bob Diamond faces calls to resign.

The chief executive is facing the sack after the bank was fined £290 million by regulators for trying to manipulate the money markets.

US watchdogs and the UK Financial Services Authority imposed the penalty after they revealed Barclays had been deliberately altering the rate at which institutions lend to one another.

The bank knowingly input false information into the system used to calculate the Libor rate for British banks and Euribor rate for those based on the continent, so their traders could make profits by speculating on rates.

These are two of the most important interest gauges in the global finance sector and directly affect the value of trillions of dollars of monetary deals between banks and other establishments.

Furthermore, they influence lending rates to the public through mortgage deals and other loans.

As such, many people have paid over the odds for financial products due to these falsehoods that wrongly made the bank appear more secure during the financial crisis.

Mr Diamond said the actions "fell well short of the standards to which Barclays aspires".

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott is leading the calls for the chief executive to leave his post.

"If Diamond had a scintilla of shame, he would resign. If the Barclays board have an inch of backbone, they will sack him and put in a responsible banker to clean out the cesspit," he stated.

Last year, the chief executive received a £2.7 million bonus on top of £17 million in pay, shares and perks.

At 08:50 BST, Barclays was down 0.5 per cent on the LSE to 195.0p per share.

The bank's value is still safely higher than its 52-week low of 138.8p, which it hit in October last year.