Barclays loses another director as Alison Carnwath quits board

One of the most high-profile women in the City has quit as head of the committee that sets pay for Barclays' directors in the latest blow to the bank.

Alison Carnwath cited "personal reasons" for her decision to leave her post as a non-executive director with immediate effect.

Her departure comes within weeks of the resignation of Barclays' top three directors – the chairman Marcus Agius, chief executive Bob Diamond and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier.

Ms Carnwath, who also chairs the property company Land Securities, said: "With regret I have concluded that I am no longer able to devote sufficient time to my role as a director of Barclays given my other commitments. I would like to thank my colleagues on the board for their support and I wish Barclays continuing success in the future."

She endured a shareholder rebellion earlier this year over bonuses for Mr Diamond that investors were not sure he had earned. Despite reports she had tried to stop the bonus, 22.5 per cent at the bank's annual meeting failed to back her re-election to the board .

In an interview in the latest issue of Economia Ms Carnwath admitted "a lot of pressures come to bear" on the remuneration committee. "It's not easy, and we don't always get it right" she added.

Mr Agius, who will himself leave once his successor is found, thanked her for her "contribution" as a board member since 2010.

The 59-year-old worked as an investment banker for more than 20 years. At one point Ms Carnwath was regarded as a potential successor to Mr Agius. Her resignation came a day after the bank appointed Anthony Salz, the former head of Freshfields law firm, to run a review of the bank's business practices.

Barclays is due to publish first-half profits of about £3.7bn on Friday. It was fined £290m for attempting to manipulate Libor.