John Silvester Varley (born 1 April 1956) is an English banker who was the group chief executive of

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

from 2004 to 2011.

Early life

John Silvester Varley was born in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

. His father, Philip, was a solicitor in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

. Varley was educated at the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Downside School Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey. Originall ...

Stratton-on-the-Fosse Stratton-on-the-Fosse is a village and civil parish located on the edge of the Mendip Hills, south-west of Westfield, north-east of Shepton Mallet, and from Frome, in Somerset, England. It has a population of 1,108, and has a rural agricultu ...

south of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, becoming head librarian, then at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

( MA History), and London's

College of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

Career

He became a solicitor with Frere Cholmeley (which became Frere Cholmeley Bischoff and was then bought by

Eversheds Eversheds Sutherland is a global multinational law practice created by a combination of law firms Eversheds LLP and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, in February 2017, and is one of the 50 largest law practices in the world. History 1988 to 20 ...

in 1998) in 1979. Varley joined Barclays in 1982, as part of the

Corporate Finance Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the Value investing, value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and anal ...

Department of the then Barclays Merchant Bank. Senior appointments with the successor bank, BZW (now

Barclays Capital Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

), included Deputy Chief Executive of BZW's Equity Division and head of BZW's offices in South East Asia. In 1995 he became Chairman of the

Asset Management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...

Division and from April 1998 to October 2000 was Chief Executive, Retail Financial Services. He joined the main Barclays board on 5 June 1998 and was Group Finance Director from 2000 until the end of 2003. On 1 January 2004, Varley became Group Deputy Chief Executive, and on 1 September 2004 he succeeded Matthew Barrett as Group Chief Executive of Barclays. His annual salary from Barclays was £1,075,000. On 1 January 2011 he was succeeded as Chief Executive by

Robert Diamond Robert Edward Diamond Jr. is an American banker and former chief executive officer of Barclays plc. In 2010, he became its president and deputy group chief executive; and in January 2011, succeeded John Silvester Varley, John Varley as group chi ...

. As of 2013, Varley was a trustee of

The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation The Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund (PWCF) awards approximately £3 million to a range of charitable causes annually. It was founded by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) in 1979, and is registered as The Prince of Wales's Charitable Found ...

. In June 2017, following a five-year investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office covering Barclays' activities during the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

, Varley and three former colleagues, Roger Jenkins,

Thomas Kalaris Thomas Llewellyn Kalaris (born November 1955) is a British banker, the former chief executive of Barclays wealth and investment management. Early life Kalaris has a bachelor's degree from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and an MBA fr ...

and

Richard Boath Richard Boath is a British banker, the former Barclays global co-head of finance. Early life Richard Boath is the son of a senior chemicals company executive , and a former Miss Manchester. He has a bachelor's degree in management science from ...

, were charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and the provision of

unlawful financial assistance Financial assistance in law refers to assistance given by a company for the purchase of its own shares or the shares of its holding companies. In many jurisdictions such assistance is prohibited or restricted by law. For example, all EU member s ...

. In June 2019, the SFO cleared Varley of fraud charges.

Personal life

In 1981 he married Carolyn Thorn Pease, daughter of

Sir Richard Pease, 3rd Baronet Sir Richard Thorn Pease, 3rd Baronet, DL (20 May 1922 – 9 March 2021) was a British banker, who was chairman of Yorkshire Bank, and vice-chairman of Barclays. Early life Pease was born in May 1922, the son of Sir Richard Arthur Pease (1890 ...

, and in so doing married into the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

Pease family The Pease family is an English and mostly Quaker family associated with Darlington, County Durham, and North Yorkshire, descended from Edward Pease of Darlington (1711–1785). They were 'one of the great Quaker industrialist families of the ...

, whose bank became part of Barclays in 1902. His sister-in-law is the hedge fund manager

Nichola Pease Nichola Pease (born April 1961) is a British fund manager. According to The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' in 2019, Pease and her then husband Crispin Odey were worth £775 million. Early life Nichola Pease was born in April 1961. Her father, Sir ...

, who is married to hedge fund billionaire

Crispin Odey Robin Crispin William Odey (born January 1959)O'Hannelly, Padraig"Investment Greats: Crispin Odey" Motley Fool, 2 October 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2012. is a London-based hedge fund manager and the founding partner of Odey Asset Management. In A ...

. They have two children. They live in

Brook Green Brook Green is an affluent London neighbourhood in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It is located approximately west of Charing Cross. It is bordered by Kensington, Holland Park, Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith and Brackenbury V ...

in Hammersmith, West London, and own a country house in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

References

External links

Barclays

News items

''Sunday Times'' article August 2006

''New Statesman'' interview January 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varley, John Silvester 1956 births Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Barclays people English bankers English chief executives English solicitors Living people Pease family People from Warwick People educated at Downside School