Barclays shareholders on Monday delivered a sharp rebuke to the bank over its handling of its £7bn capital increase as they reluctantly approved the deal. Shareholders representing more than one fifth of the votes cast failed to vote in favour of the deal, which could see Middle Eastern investors holding almost a third of the bank’s shares. At a tense meeting in London, Marcus Agius, Barclays’ chairman, argued the bank had sacrificed shareholders’ rights to participate in a capital raising rather than risk suffering a loss of confidence that could have triggered a “death spiral”. John Varley, chief executive, said Barclays had not turned to the UK government for capital because it would have been forced to rein in its international expansion plans. In Lex’s view, Barclay’s should not take the 10% recovery in its shares, or shareholders’ broad approval of resolutions, as an indication of unconditional support for the bank’s leadership. That endorsement must wait until the bank’s AGM in April, when the entire board stands for re-election.
