On July 3, 2012, Barclays Bank PLC announced the resignation of its CEO, Bob Diamond, with immediate effect. This follows a period of intense media, political, and investor scrutiny of Barclays after it had announced its agreement to pay penalties in relation to an industrywide investigation into the setting of interbank offered rates. We are revising our outlook on the long-term rating on Barclays to negative from stable. We are affirming our 'A+/A-1' counterparty credit ratings on Barclays. The negative outlook reflects our view of the current management flux and near-term strategic uncertainty arising from the revelation of what we perceive to be certain poor business practices and weak compliance in relation to the past setting of interbank offered rates.
