Barclays boss Diamond quits over rate-fixing

Barclays Chief Executive Bob Diamond quit his job on Tuesday, the latest scalp in a financial markets scandal that has also seen the bank's chairman announce his intention to resign and sown the seeds for another investigation into Britain's banking sector.

Diamond's resignation, which has taken effect immediately, comes a day after Chairman Marcus Agius fell on his sword too. However, Agius will lead the search for a new chief executive and will leave the company only after a new chairman is found.

Barclays' management has come under fire since the bank was fined $453 million last week by U.S. and British regulators for submitting false reports on interbank borrowing rates between 2005 and 2009. Much of that activity originated from traders in Barclays Capital, the investment banking division which Diamond headed at the time.

"The external pressure placed on Barclays has reached a level that risks damaging the franchise - I cannot let that happen," Diamond said Tuesday in the statement accompanying his resignation. "I am deeply disappointed that the impression created by the events announced last week about what Barclays and its people stand for could not be further from the truth."

Britain's Serious Fraud Office said on Monday that it would decide within a month whether to pursue criminal charges in the case. The government, which has come under pressure to initiate a judge-led inquiry into the sector, also announced a parliamentary committee to investigate what went on and report by the end of the year.