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London - Barclays, the parent company of Absa Group [JSE:ASA] named two new non-executive directors on Monday as new bosses attempt to put a series of scandals behind the British bank.
The board was criticised last year for being too indulgent with management and failing to spot the risks from a free-wheeling, risk-taking culture under former CEO Bob Diamond.
Alison Carnwath quit as head of its remuneration committee in July and said later that she had clashed with the board over Diamond's bonus.
Chairperson David Walker and CEO Antony Jenkins were picked the following month after Barclays was fined $450m for manipulating Libor interest rates, with a brief to streamline operations and overhaul the culture of the three century-old bank.
Barclays said Frits van Paasschen, who is president and CEO of US group Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, would join the board in August and Michael Ashley, head of quality and risk management for KPMG in Europe, a month later.
Ashley will be the fourth new non-executive, alongside Tim Breedon who arrived in November and Diane de Saint Victor in March.
Andrew Likierman, who joined the board in 2004, is stepping down. The other remaining nine non-executive directors are standing for re-election at the annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, and critics say the changes at the top of Barclays have not gone far enough.
John Sunderland, who has been on the board for eight years and replaced Carnwath as head of remuneration, was harshly criticised by politicians in January for defending a past pay-out to Diamond.
Fulvio Conti joined the board in 2006 and Michael Rake, the deputy chairperson who has been on the board for five years, said in October he had no plans to resign, after the Financial Times reported that he was likely to depart soon.
There have been big changes below board level, however.
CEO Jenkins said on Friday that Diamond's last top lieutenants - investment bank boss Rich Ricci and wealth management head Tom Kalaris - would be leaving..
Finance director Chris Lucas said in February he would retire as soon as a replacement is found.
Barclays said Van Paasschen has previously been CEO of Coors Brewing and had senior roles at Nike and Disney Consumer Products.
It said Ashley is an experienced auditor and financial expert, with over 20 years as an audit partner, including lead audit partner for several large financial firms.
