London - There has often been something of the Shakespearean tragedy about events at Barclays.
The assassination of Antony Jenkins, the chief executive, looks to be firmly in that tradition, with the deputy chairman, Sir Mike Rake, having been cast in the role of Brutus.
Sir Mike has never been Jenkins's greatest fan, but even though his name was all over the explanation released to the Stock Exchange - it talked blandly of the need for a “new set of skills” to take the bank forward - he wasn't alone. The conspirators included other non-executives, not to mention the new chairman, John McFarlane, without whose say-so this would never have happened. He now will take charge of the empire until a longer term successor is found. Just as he did at his old shop, the insurer Aviva.
Now, Jenkins's tenure won't be regarded quite as harshly as that of Andrew Moss, the chief executive of the latter firm from whom Mr McFarlane temporarily took executive control after Moss resigned in a row over pay.
In fact, many of the things he was talking about three years ago, about ethics and doing business the right way, have since been adopted by his peers at HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland. In some ways he could even be considered to have been ahead of his time.
But there are still many similarities between the two situations. Just as at Aviva, McFarlane has come in ostensibly to be chairman and ended up taking an institution by the scruff of the neck from out of the hands of an unpopular chief executive.
As had Moss, Jenkins resorted to the strategic relaunch on more than one occasion, which is never a good sign. The same goes for reshuffling the deck chairs on the executive committee, partly prompted by appointments that didn't work out (see Sants, Hector).
But perhaps Jenkins's biggest error was in his failure to make friends where it counts. There was no Mark Antony to rouse the commons in his favour during his recent presentations to the board when matters came to a head, particularly over the vexed question of Barclays Investment Bank, to which his opponents felt he paid too little attention and love.
Then there was the reaction of the market, which told its own story. Barclays shares were by a distance the best performers in the banking sector.
There is no greater insult to a chief executive than watching the shares in the company they have run rise as they clear their desk.
Was there touch of Schadenfreude about the reaction on the trading floors, where there was never much love for a man mockingly dubbed Saint Antony? Certainly.
But Jenkins's problems went way beyond that. His predecessor, Bob Diamond, may have endured considerable public opprobrium, but his following in the City was still solid when he was forced out - not by investors, it should be remembered, but by political and public pressure in the wake of the Libor fixing scandal.
Jenkins, socially awkward and the apparent recipient of a charisma bypass operation, might have overcome that if the share price and financial performance of Barclays had measured up. But it did not and he ran out of what turned out to be a very short rope.
So now the headhunters have yet more work from Barclays, which is becoming something of a favoured client. Speculation over the next man at the top immediately focused on Tushar Morzaria, the well regarded finance director who will probably be the leading internal candidate. He certainly merits a close look, and will one day have his chance.
But Jenkins's defenestration comes perhaps a touch too early for Morzaria. The more likely outcome is the appointment of a globe-trotting outsider to the hot seat. The dilemma facing Barclays is that such people don't come cheap at the best of times. This is not the best of times for Barclays. And it is not the best of times to be throwing money at banking executives in Britain.
The Independent