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King 'didn't demand Diamond sack'
Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King has denied telling Barclays to fire former chief executive Bob Diamond but admitted he offered the lender "helpful" advice about the views of regulators.
Former Barclays boss Bob Diamond resigned over the Libor-rigging scandal
Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King has denied telling Barclays to fire former chief executive Bob Diamond but admitted he offered the lender "helpful" advice about the views of regulators.
Sir Mervyn has previously acknowledged telling Barclays chairman Marcus Agius that Mr Diamond had lost the confidence of regulators following the Libor-rigging scandal - a discussion which prompted Mr Diamond to resign.
But he insisted to Channel 4 News: "I didn't fire anybody. I had a conversation which I thought would be helpful for them in understanding how concerned the regulators were."
He added: "I said to them that I really wanted them to understand how concerned the regulators were.
"Sometimes you can hear the message from the regulators and not really engage in it.
"Sometimes it can be helpful to have a third party say 'Do you really understand how worried they are?' and I think they found that helpful."
Sir Mervyn, who was giving his first live TV interview, said: "I heard the concerns the regulators had and I wanted to impress upon the non-executive board of Barclays the regulators had real concerns."
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