THE ROUT of directors at Barclays has continued with the resignation of Alison Carnwath as a non-executive.

“With regret I have concluded that I am no longer able to devote sufficient time to my role as a director of Barclays given my other commitments,” Ms Carnwath said in a brief statement.

The 59-year-old, who is also chairman of property group Land Securities, had held the role for less than two years.

Her departure comes within weeks of the resignation of Barclays’ top three directors – chairman Marcus Agius, chief executive Bob Diamond and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier – following sharp criticism by regulators and a £290 million (€370 million) fine over the bank’s role in attempting to manipulate Libor benchmark borrowing rates.

Among the issues that brought Barclays into conflict with regulators as well as its own shareholders was the generosity of remuneration deals, particularly for Mr Diamond.

That dragged Ms Carnwath, who chaired Barclays’ remuneration committee, into the limelight. She was personally criticised by some disaffected investors at the bank’s annual meeting in April, despite suggestions that she had argued internally against Mr Diamond’s pay deal.

At one point, Ms Carnwath had been tipped as a potential successor to Mr Agius, but the row over Mr Diamond’s 2011 remuneration, worth as much as £25 million, put paid to that.

Ms Carnwath has told friends for several months that the demands of the Barclays role were looking unsustainable.

Her resignation came a day after the bank appointed Anthony Salz, the former head of Freshfields law firm, to run a review of the bank’s business practices.