John McFarlane

{{Infobox person

| honorific_suffix = OBE

| name = John McFarlane

| image = John McFarlane.jpg

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| birth_date = {{Birth-date and age|14 June 1947}}

| birth_place = Dumfries, Scotland

| alma_mater = University of Edinburgh
Cranfield School of Management
London Business School

| nationality = British
Australian{{cite web |title=John MCFARLANE - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House) |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/T9yB9dhyY8nMQo8JqQ8FYQUcSJE/appointments |website=Companies House |accessdate=5 June 2018}}

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| occupation =

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John McFarlane OBE (born 14 June 1947) is a British businessman. He served as group chairman of Barclays from 2015 to 2019. From 2020 to 2023, McFarlane served as Chairman of Westpac.

Early life

He was born in Dumfries and attended Dumfries Academy. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, Cranfield and the London Business School.

Career

He began his career in manufacturing with Ford of Europe in 1969, subsequently having a career in banking. He spent eighteen years with Citibank, ultimately as head of Citibank in Ireland and the United Kingdom.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/|title=The Times & The Sunday Times|website=The Times|language=en|access-date=2020-02-26}} In 1993, he became Group Executive Director of Standard Chartered Plc. based in London and Hong Kong. He was chief executive of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ), one of Australia's leading banks, after a decade of service, during which time he turned around the financial performance of the bank, and spearheaded an effort, called "Breakout", to transform the Bank. He retired in 2007.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/business/no-more-sekrets-for-mcfarlane-20070613-ge5458.html|title=No more Sekrets for McFarlane|last=Williams|first=Ruth|date=2007-06-13|website=The Age|language=en|access-date=2020-02-26}}

In October 2008, he joined the board of the Royal Bank of Scotland as a non-executive director.{{Cite news|last1=Armitstead|first1=Louise|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/2795330/Royal-Bank-of-Scotland-shakes-up-boardroom-with-new-directors.html|title=Royal Bank of Scotland shakes up boardroom with new directors|date=2008-08-27|access-date=2020-02-26|last2=Kleinman|first2=Mark|journal=Daily Telegraph|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} He was appointed to the board of Aviva plc in September 2011 and became chairman in July 2012.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aviva.com/about-us/our-board/|title=Our Board|date=2019-05-23|website=www.aviva.com|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-02-26}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/finance-news/barclays-announce-john-mcfarlane-as-new-chairman.html|title=Barclays announce John McFarlane as new Chairman|last=Loddington|first=Amy|date=12 September 2014|website=Financial Reporter|language=en|access-date=2020-02-26}} He was previously deputy chairman and chairman designate and became executive deputy chairman in May 2012. He was president of the International Monetary Conference (the annual meeting of the heads of the world's major banks and central banks) and was chairman of the Australian Bankers' Association. While in the United Kingdom, he was a member of the Bank of England Financial Law Review Panel; in 1992, he chaired The McFarlane Report - the review of "The Future Development of Auditing in the United Kingdom and Ireland". More recently, he served as a member of the governing body of the Economics Research Institute for the Association of South East Asian Nations & East Asia. In December 2013, he was appointed chairman of FirstGroup.{{Cite web|url=http://hsprod.investis.com/servlet/HsPublic?context=ir.access&ir_option=RNS_NEWS&item=1652716300402688&ir_client_id=2899&transform=newsitem|title=FirstGroup appoints John McFarlane as Chairman|date=6 December 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213204009/http://hsprod.investis.com/servlet/HsPublic?context=ir.access&ir_option=RNS_NEWS&item=1652716300402688&ir_client_id=2899&transform=newsitem|archive-date=13 December 2013}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-25258404|title=FirstGroup appoints new chairman|date=2013-12-06|work=BBC News|access-date=2020-02-26|language=en-GB}}

In September 2014, he was appointed chairman of Barclays and joined the board with effect from 1 January 2015.{{Cite web|url=http://www.barclays.com/content/dam/barclayspublic/docs/InvestorRelations/IRNewsPresentations/2014News/20140912-John-McFarlane-to-succeed-Sir-DavidWalker.pdf|title=John McFarlane appointed to succeed Sir David Walker as Chairman|date=12 September 2014}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/9857db9e-3a52-11e4-8ee4-00144feabdc0|title=Barclays appoints Aviva's John McFarlane as chairman|website=www.ft.com|access-date=2020-02-26}} He was appointed executive chairman of Barclays in July 2015 until a permanent replacement could be found for their departing chief executive Antony Jenkins.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-33438914|title=Barclays sacks chief executive Antony Jenkins|date=2015-07-08|publisher=BBC|accessdate=2015-07-08}} He is also chairman of TheCityUK.

McFarlane contributed to an anthology of writing that was published in October 2018 and produced by Labour in the City, which examines the challenges facing the banking sector a decade on from the financial crisis.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cityam.com/267926/we-must-turn-page-public-perceptions-finance|title=We must turn the page on the public perceptions of finance|last=Clark|first=Andrew|date=2018-11-01|access-date=2018-11-06|language=en}}{{cite book|last=McFarlane|first = John |title=Ten years on: banking beyond the crisis|publisher=Labour in the City |date= October 31, 2018 |pages=19–21 |chapter=Ten years on - we must not forget the lessons we have learnt|access-date=2020-11-09|language=en|url=http://www.labourinthecity.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/LITC-pamphlet-FINAL-15th-OCT.pdf}} In November 2018, Barclays announced that McFarlane was stepping down as chairman in May 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/barclays-john-mcfarlane-leaving-mack-knife-share-price-nigel-higgins-chairman-a8613906.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220613/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/barclays-john-mcfarlane-leaving-mack-knife-share-price-nigel-higgins-chairman-a8613906.html |archive-date=13 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Barclays chairman John 'Mack the Knife' McFarlane to step down|date=2018-11-02|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2020-02-26}}

In April 2020, McFarlane was appointed to the board of Westpac{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-23/westpac-new-chairman-john-mcfarlane/11891948|title=Westpac picks John McFarlane as new chairman to deal with money laundering scandal|last=Ryan|first=Peter|date=2020-01-23|website=ABC News|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-02-26}} where he served as chairman until December, 2023.{{Cite web |last=Muroi |first=Millie |date=2023-10-15 |title=Westpac appoints Steven Gregg as new chairman |url=https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/westpac-appoints-steven-gregg-as-new-chairman-20231016-p5ecj0.html |access-date=2024-02-19 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}

Honours

In the 1995 Birthday Honours, McFarlane was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for "services to the Finance Industry".{{London Gazette |issue=54066 |supp=y |page=12 |date=16 June 1995}} In 2001 he received the Centenary Medal for "service to Australian society in business leadership".{{cite web |title=Mr John MCFARLANE - Centenary Medal |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1127894 |website=Australian Honours Search Facility |publisher=Australian Government |access-date=1 January 2023 |date=1 January 2001 |quote=For service to Australian society in business leadership}} He has also received banking and securities fellowships in the UK, Australia and Hong Kong, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.