Irish-Canadian banker turns full circle with Barclays job

The appointment of Irish-Canadian Mr Matthew Barrett as Barclays Plc chief executive brings him back to the city where he began his banking career as a trainee teller back in 1962.

Mr Barrett (54), began working in London for the Bank of Montreal as an 18-year-old - having left his home in Kells, Co Meath - and rose up through the ranks to become chairman and chief executive, positions he has held for the last decade.

Mr Barrett was looking for a new international challenge following his decision to take early retirement from the Bank of Montreal in February. He was deeply frustrated when the Canadian Finance Minister last year blocked what was to be his crowning achievement - a merger with the Royal Bank of Canada.

He will be delighted if the British media takes more interest in his work rather than his private life. Mr Barrett became fed up with what was written in the Canadian gossip columns about his divorce from his first wife and subsequent marriage to 44-year old jet-setter Anne-Marie Sten, from whom he is now separated.

Mr Barrett is well-armed to lead Barclays into a new global banking era of consolidation as it seeks to emerge from a year of falling profits, huge Russian losses and a lack of strategic direction. His appointment follows the shock resignation last year of Mr Martin Taylor and the unexpected departure of his planned successor, Mr Michael O'Neill, on health grounds.

"We welcome his appointment as one bringing considerable expertise, a proven track record and an eye for the mega deal," said Credit Lyonnais banking analyst, Mr Mark Thomas.

Under Mr Barrett's leadership, Bank of Montreal clocked up nine years of record profits and was regarded as a model employer. He set up a number of taskforces to remove bars to the advancement of women, minority groups and the disabled. At the start of Mr Barrett's tenure as CEO, 25 per cent of the company's profits were generated outside of the home market, a figure that now stands at 50 per cent.

His experience in investment banking and bank mergers will also come in handy at Barclays. The bank has in recent years suffered from losses in Russia and hedge funds, was forced to sell its investment banking unit and must now compete in a consolidating market.

Described by the Toronto Star as a "savvy, creative operator with an eye for the latest trends", Mr Barrett also introduced one of the first electronic branchless banking services in Canada. But his failure to secure the Canadian merger led to criticisms that there was never a Plan B. Some observers believed the two banks botched the public relations campaign and failed to generate political and public support for the merger.

His Louis Vuitton briefcase will be awash with money after a few years at Barclays.

Mr Barrett will receive a £2.5 million sterling ($4.0 million) a year total pay package, as well as a 100 per cent performance related bonus from the end of the first year and share options worth four times his salary.

He was awarded the title of Canada's outstanding CEO of the year in 1995 and became an Officer of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honour, in 1994.

Mr Barrett, who attended the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Programme in 1981, likes fly-fishing, theatre and literature. He has four children.