Marcus Ambrose Paul Agius (; born 22 July 1946) is a British financier and former group chairman of

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

Early life and education

Marcus Agius was born on 22 July 1946, the son of Ena Eleanora (née Hueffer) and Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Victor Louis Benedict Agius. He is of part Maltese descent, and was educated at

St George's College, Weybridge St George's Weybridge is an independent mixed Roman Catholic co-educational Josephite day school in Surrey, taking pupils from 3 to 18. St George's Weybridge is made up of St George's Junior School (3–11) and St George's College (11–18). ...

. He earned his degree in Mechanical Sciences and Economics at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and also holds an MBA from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

Career

Early career and Lazard (1972–2006)

Agius' banking career began at the investment bank, Lazard, where he worked from 1972 to 2006 holding several senior positions. He was appointed as the chairman of the London branch of Lazard in 2001 and deputy chairman of Lazard LLC in 2002. He joined BAA PLC as a non-executive director in 1995 and served as its chairman from 2002 till 2006.

Barclays Board and chairman (2006–2012)

On 1 September 2006, Agius joined the Barclays board as a non-executive director and succeeded Matthew Barrett as chairman from 1 January 2007. His most recently reported salary was £750,000. On 2 July 2012 it was announced that Agius would resign following the Barclays fine for manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) by some Barclays employees in the Libor scandal. In November 2012, it was reported that he might be retained as a consultant. In July 2012 Agius was reinstated as

Executive Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

, following the resignation of CEO Bob Diamond, until a new chief executive is appointed. During his time at Barclays Agius attended the 2011 meeting of the Bilderberg Group.

British Bankers Association (2010 – 2012)

From 2010 to 2012 Agius was the chairman of the British Bankers Association (BBA). Libor (formally BBA LIBOR) being calculated and published by Thomson Reuters on behalf of the BBA. From December 2006 to 2012 Agius was a senior independent non-executive director of the BBC's executive board.BBC appoints first non-executive director
/ref>BBC Board Bio – Marcus Agius
/ref> In September 2011, Agius was appointed as a committee member to act as one of the three trustees of the Bilderberg Group. The other committee members are Kenneth Clarke MP and Lord Kerr of Kinlochard.

Botany

Agius is a keen gardener.The Top five in Finance
/ref> Between 2009 and 2019 he was the chairman of the trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. On his retirement, he donated £500,000 to the gardens to create the Agius Evolution Garden there. He was appointed Chairman of the Cambridge University Plant Science Initiative. Agius was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to botany and conservation.

Personal life

Marcus, a Roman Catholic,Heretics to heroes: how Rome went mainstream
/ref> married Katherine (born 1949), daughter of

Edmund de Rothschild Major Edmund Leopold de Rothschild (2 January 1916 – 17 January 2009) was an English financier, a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England, and a recipient of the Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH), given by the Royal Hortic ...

of the Rothschild banking family of England, and has a close involvement with the Rothschild family estate, Exbury Gardens in Hampshire. They have two children. In 2010 '' The Tablet'' named him as one of Britain's most influential Roman Catholics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agius, Marcus 1946 births Living people Rothschild family Chairmen of Barclays Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Harvard Business School alumni People educated at St George's College, Weybridge British chairpersons of corporations British Roman Catholics BBC executives Members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group British people of Maltese descent British expatriates in the United States Commanders of the Order of the British Empire