 "Barclays, Standard Chartered")
Barclays has been exploring a potential merger with rival banks including Standard Chartered, as part of wide-ranging contingency plans being weighed by senior board members following pressure from an activist investor, the Financial Times reported.
Chairman John McFarlane was at least theoretically keen on the idea of combining with Standard Chartered, and was supported by Deputy Chairman Gerry Grimstone, the FT reported, citing two unidentified people close to the situation. “Hypothetical combinations” with other lenders including Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse Group, and DBS Group Holdings, have also been discussed by Barclays’s directors, the newspaper reported.
Barclays has come under increasing
