Barclays finance chief jumps ship to Apollo

APOLLO:Barclays finance chief jumps ship to Apollo

new York  July 10, 2012, 4:48 IST

new York  07 10, 2012, 04:50 IST

 

Apollo Global Management LLC said on Monday it appointed Martin Kelly, a top financial controller at Barclays Plc , the British bank tainted with an interest rate rigging scandal, as its next chief financial officer.

Kelly, 44, will succeed 54-year-old Gene Donnelly, who has resigned to pursue other interests, as Apollo CFO no later than October 1, the private equity firm said in a statement. Donnelly will serve as CFO until mid-August and as senior advisor to Apollo until the end of the year, the firm added.

"We are confident that (Kelly's) leadership, finance and accounting experience will benefit Apollo and its employees and investors as we continue to diversify and grow our business on a global scale," Apollo's CEO Leon Black said in a statement.

Kelly worked in several roles at Lehman Brothers and Barclays between 2000 and 2012, including overseeing finance and controls of the equities, investment banking and fixed income businesses. In March 2009, he was made CFO of the Americas and in October 2011 appointed global head of financial control for Barclays' corporate and investment bank.

Barclays has admitted it submitted artificially low estimates of its borrowing costs from late 2007 to May 2009 because it thought rivals were doing the same and higher submissions would make it appear it was in trouble.

From September 2008 to March 2009, Kelly served in a variety of senior finance roles at Barclays, according to a regulatory filing by Apollo. However, there is no suggestion he was involved in the affair.

From 2000 to 2007, Kelly worked on accounting and regulatory matters relating to the corporate and financial institution clients of Lehman Brothers, the bankrupt U.S. investment bank Barclays took over in 2008.

Controllers are primarily accountants responsible for accurate filing and financial reporting and they are usually separate from treasury, where borrowing rates are reported. A Barclays spokeswoman could not immediately comment on Kelly's responsibilities.

Barclays has been fined more that $450 million for its part in manipulating Libor, the interest rate that is the global benchmark for transactions worth billions of dollars.

Apollo said it entered into a letter agreement with Kelly about the CFO job on July 2. Barclays' settlements with U.S. and British authorities regarding Libor were announced on June 27. It was not clear for how long Kelly was negotiating a move to Apollo.

Before joining Lehman in 2000, Kelly spent 13 years with accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has a degree in commerce, majoring in finance and accounting, from the University of New South Wales.