Lazard head set for top Barclays position

Barclays is close to appointing Marcus Agius, one of London's best-known investment bankers, as its chairman to replace Matt Barrett, who is expected to retire from Britain's third-largest bank this year.

Mr Agius, the UK head of Lazard and former chairman of BAA, the airports group, is the strong favourite to take over the position. An announcement could be made in the next few days.

If confirmed in the role, Mr Agius will join Barclays in the middle of a far-reaching shake-up designed to expand its reach in overseas markets while improving the performance of its UK retail banking arm.

John Varley, chief executive, has given broader responsibility to executives from its investment banking division, while hiring new managers from US banks in an attempt to boost the bank's performance.

The move is the latest in a generational change sweeping through Britain's banking industry.

In the past year HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland have all appointed new chairmen while HBOS has a new chief executive.

Mr Agius (60) is a well-known figure in the City of London and is highly respected by executives as an adviser. He is also credited with orchestrating the defence of BAA, which was sold to Ferrovial of Spain for £10.3 billion (€15.2 billion) earlier this year after an intense bidding war.

It was unclear last night whether Mr Agius would be able to combine the chairman's role at Barclays with his position at Lazard, where he has been UK chairman since 2001 and is still actively involved in deals.

Although Lazard mostly concentrates on advising on mergers and acquisitions - an area Barclays has avoided - it also has a fund management business that could be seen as a competitor of Barclays Global Investors, the bank's asset management division. Barclays, Lazard and Mr Agius declined to comment.

Mr Barrett (62) is understood to have told the Barclays board that he wanted to retire earlier in the summer, triggering a search for his replacement.

Aside from Mr Agius, Barclays is also thought to have considered Robert Steel, a former Goldman Sachs banker who joined the board last year, for the position.

However, Mr Steel is thought to be a candidate for a senior position at the US Treasury, working for Hank Paulson, the new treasury secretary. - (Financial Times service)