The full transcript of Diamond’s appearance before the committee was published last night and can be read at [ http://bit.ly/Lzj0Nt ]. Financial News has crunched the numbers…
Twice during the three-hour hearing into Libor fixing, Diamond expressed his sorrow, first telling David Ruffley MP of the behaviour of a small number of
traders: “I am sorry. I am disappointed, and I am also angry.”
Later on, he reprised that the treble phrase, telling Andrea Leadsom MP: “I don’t want to leave any impression about how sorry I am, how angry we are or how disappointed we are.”
Whatever else the hearing may or may not have achieved in its efforts to establish what went wrong at Barclays and how it was allowed to happen, the committee left the room last Wednesday firmly aware of Diamond’s love for Barclays.
The transcript of the afternoon’s hearing includes no fewer than nine mentions by Diamond of his love for Barclays, a sentiment that he wasted no time in expressing as soon as the hearing was underway.
“Wow. I love Barclays. That’s where it starts. I love Barclays because of the people,” Diamond told the committee.
He went on to say the traders’ behaviour was “not representative of the firm that I love so much”, adding later to Ruffley: “David, I love Barclays and I am not going to speculate on anything else. I love Barclays, but I also will tell you, for almost 25 years I have been a part of the financial services industry in the UK. I have developed great relationships with regulators at the Bank of England, at the FSA and the Treasury. I have loved my time here.”
After another reminder that Barclays was “an amazing institution that I love”, Diamond attempted to wring a crumb of praise from the panellists, asking Mark Garnier MP whether he thought he (Diamond) had done a good job, and explaining to the committee: “Just looking for a little love, that’s all.”
Despite Diamond’s efforts to remind everyone that the wrongdoing was the result of actions by 14 traders – who he mentioned six times – the focus remained firmly on what went wrong at Barclays, and indeed Diamond found himself using the word “wrong” a full two dozen times when discussing what had gone on at the bank and how it had been missed at senior levels in the firm.
He did include a couple of variations on the theme, also branding the behaviour “reprehensible” no fewer than eight times and “inexcusable” on two occasions, before the meeting broke up and Diamond himself was excused by committee chairman Andrew Tyrie.
- write to vivek.ahuja@dowjones.com