Barclays boss urged to quit

The Mayor of London has said he believes people will be asking; "why, when something as serious as rigging Libor has taken place are there no criminal prosecutions?"

The President of the CBI has said that; "the manipulation of the Libor arrangements is deplorable and undermines international trust in the integrity of the City."

The Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for Barclays boss Bob Diamond to go.

He said, "I think it's now pretty clear that the change that is required at Barclays, I think it's very hard to see that being led by Bob Diamond."

Barclays suffered severe losses on Thursday with its share price plunging 15.5% to 165.5p. The bank enjoyed a small reprieve this morning opening 1.8% or 3p higher at 168.5p.

When asked whether Mr Diamond should resign, Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mark Hoban told BBC Breakfast:

Bookmakers are offering odds of 5/2 that Bob Diamond will no longer be Group Chief Executive of Barclays by August 1 2012. William Hill also give 2/7 odds that he will defy critics and remain in the position past that date.

Barclays boss Bob Diamond is facing calls to quit as he said all those responsible for the rate-rigging scandal should pay the price.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban MP, told Daybreak that Mr Diamond has serious questions to answer over the allegations.

Mr Diamond's highest-profile deal was Barclays' controversial acquisition of the brokerage arm of US bank Lehman Brothers for 1.7 billion US dollars (£1.1 billion) after it collapsed in 2008.

In June 2010, Mr Diamond faced a federal court hearing in Manhattan, which was looking into allegations that Barclays duped Lehman Brothers out of billions of dollars during the deal.

It is largely down to Mr Diamond's Barclays Capital division that the UK bank avoided state assistance during the credit crunch, although market turmoil has dented his former division's profits in recent months.

As one of the world's richest and most successful bankers, embattled Barclays boss Bob Diamond has never strayed too far from the public gaze.

The American was once described by Lord Mandelson as the "unacceptable face of banking" due to his lavish pay deals and has amassed an estimated fortune of around £95 million.

Mr Diamond, who became chief executive on January 1 last year, picks up a salary of £1.3 million and was reportedly in line to receive £11 million in payouts this year before waiving his annual bonus in the wake of the the rate-rigging scandal.

Within days of starting the top job at Barclays, and having passed up his bonus handout in 2009 and 2010, he angered some MPs last year by saying the time for "remorse and apology" needed to be over as banks look to support Britain's recovery.