Barclays chairman steps down after rates scandal

A view of Barclays’ headquarter at London's Canary Wharf financial district on June 28. Barclays PLC and its subsidiaries will pay about 453 million US dollars to settle charges that they tried to manipulate interest rates that can affect how much people pay for loans to attend college or buy a house. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

LONDON — The chairman of U.K.-based Barclays bank has stepped down, accepting responsibility for a scandal regarding the manipulation of data by his bank which led to a massive fine.

Marcus Agius, who has served as chairman for about 6 years, announced Monday that he was accepting responsibility as “ultimate guardian of the bank’s reputation.”

Agius said: “The buck stops with me and I must acknowledge responsibility by standing aside.”

He said that Michael Rake, a senior independent director of the bank, had been appointed to lead an in-house review of all past practices, to publish a report of its findings and develop a new, mandatory code of conduct for everyone at Barclays.

U.S. and British agencies imposed fines totaling $453 million on Barclays last week for submitting false data.