There is new leadership at Barclays as its CEO stands down amid demands for faster change at the UK-listed bank.

Antony Jenkins is leaving the post of Barclays chief executive because non-executive directors wanted to drive forward change at a faster pace, the UK-listed banking group announced today.

John McFarlane, who is retiring from FirstGroup, is named executive chairman pending the recruitment of a new CEO and the change takes effect on 17 July, subject to approval by the regulator.

Shares in Barclays rose 3.26 per cent around 09:30 this morning in London, at 260.30 pence.

The removal of Jenkins, who held the post for three years after taking over from Robert Diamond, who resigned amid the Libor-rigging scandal that engulfed Barclays and a number of other banks, will raise questions about the bank’s future strategy. It was due to issue interim results on 29 July. The departure of Jenkins comes as a number of Europe-headquartered banks have seen changes at the top, with the changes at Deutsche Bank and its co-CEOs being arguably the most controversial. (Deutsche Bank appointed a new chief executive, John Cryan, to take over the role jointly held by Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen. That announcement came only a few days after management changes concerning Jain's role at the bank.) Credit Suisse has a new CEO after the departure earlier this year of Brady Dougan; while Peter Sands, under fire for months amid criticism of financial performance, left  the CEO slot at Standard Chartered this year.

In its statement, Barclays said: “Non-executive directors led by Sir Michael Rake, deputy chairman and senior independent director, concluded that new leadership is required to accelerate the pace of execution going forward and that John McFarlane is ideally qualified in this respect until a permanent successor is appointed. This development does not signal any major change in strategy."

“The board recognises the contribution made by Antony Jenkins as chief executive over the past three years in incredibly difficult circumstances for the group, and is extremely grateful to him in bringing the company to a much stronger position.  The situation he inherited would have challenged anyone facing the same issues. This continued a period of achievement as head of Barclaycard and our retail and business banking businesses,” it said.

During Jenkins’ tenure as CEO, the business lines of Barclays were restructured and one result of this was that the wealth and investment management division of the bank no longer was treated in the financial results as a standalone entity, but part of its personal and corporate banking arm.

Members of the group executive committee of the bank will now report to McFarlane, who will "work particularly closely” with Tushar Morzaria, group finance director, the bank said.

Sir Michael said: "I reflected long and hard on the issue of group leadership and discussed this with each of the non-executive directors. Notwithstanding Antony's significant achievements, it became clear to all of us that a new set of skills were required for the period ahead. This does not take away from our appreciation of Antony's contribution at a critical time for the company."

McFarlane said: "Whilst it is unfortunate that I have had little time to work with Antony, I respect and endorse the position of the board in deciding that a change in leadership is required at this time. I would add my personal thanks for everything that Antony has done for us. He can be proud of his heritage, especially his excellent work on culture and values that we will continue. I wish him well.

"Arriving at Barclays with a fresh perspective, it is evident that we have a standout brand with first-class retail, commercial and investment banking businesses. Nevertheless, we are leaving value on the table and a new approach is required. As a group, if we aspire to bring shareholder returns forward, we need to be much more focused on what is attractive, what we are good at, and where we are good at it,” he continued.

"We therefore need to improve revenue, costs and capital performance. We also need to become more externally focused and deal with the internal bureaucracy by becoming leaner and more agile. I have experienced good results in dealing with these matters elsewhere," he added.