Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins just left the bank

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Antony Jenkins, Group Chief Executive of Barclays

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Antony Jenkins, Group Chief Executive of Barclays.

Barclays just shockingly unveiled that its CEO Antony Jenkins has left the British bank.

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Barclays announced in a statement that executive chairman John McFarlane will take over the role as interim CEO while the bank searches for a replacement.

Barclays did not give a reason for Jenkins' departure.

"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," said the bank in a statement.

Jenkins, who had run the group's retail operations for several years, has long been dubbed "The Mr. Nice" of British banking by the UK press.

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After a few months at the helm of Barclays, Jenkins unveiled his "Transform" programme which he hoped to unravel the legacy issues from the bank and said "performances and rewards would be judged against a set of core values, including integrity and respect for others."

Although he was seen as the opposite of Diamond - more retail focused and less cutthroat - he failed the group's legal woes to bed and turn a big profit.

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