David Walker (banker)
Sir David Alan Walker | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 31, 1939 United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Banker |
| Known for | Chairman of Barclays, Chairman of Morgan Stanley International |
Sir David Alan Walker (born 31 December 1939) is a distinguished British banker and former chairman of Barclays. He held the position of chairman at Morgan Stanley International during two periods, from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2004 to 2005, and continues to serve as a senior advisor. Earlier in his career, he was Assistant Secretary at the Treasury between 1974 and 1977, chaired the Securities and Investments Board from 1988 to 1992, acted as executive director for finance and industry at the Bank of England from 1989 to 1995, and served as deputy chairman of Lloyds TSB from 1992 to 1994. In 1994, he became a member of the Washington-based financial advisory group, the Group of Thirty.
In 2007, Walker was tasked by the UK private equity sector to formulate standards for transparency and disclosure. On 9 February 2009, he was appointed to lead a governmental review into the corporate governance of banks, a role that attracted some criticism. Later, on 9 August 2012, he was designated Chairman of Barclays with effect from 1 November.
On 1 July 2015, Walker assumed the role of non-executive chairman at Winton Capital Group, a global investment management firm, to assist in its ambition to expand as an international institutional asset manager.
Personal life
Walker received his education at Chesterfield School and Queens' College, Cambridge, where he earned a double first in economics and was made an honorary fellow in 1989. In 1963, he married Isobel Cooper; the couple has one son and two daughters. He was knighted in the year 1991.
Career
Walker embarked on his professional journey at HM Treasury in 1961 and served as private secretary to the joint permanent secretary from 1964 until 1966. Between 1970 and 1973, he worked at the International Monetary Fund in Washington. Subsequently, he was assistant secretary at HM Treasury from 1973 to 1977. In that year, he joined the Bank of England as chief adviser and head of economic intelligence, later becoming a director from 1981 to 1993 (serving non-executively from 1988 to 1993). From 1985 to 1988, he chaired Johnson Matthey Bankers (which later became Minories Finance) and held the position of deputy chair at Lloyds Bank from 1992 through 1994.
Within Morgan Stanley, Walker occupied several executive roles: director from 1994 to 1997; executive chair of Morgan Stanley Group (Europe) between 1994 and 2000; chairman of Morgan Stanley International from 1995 until 2000; and member of the management board for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter from 1997 to 2000. He led the Financial Markets Group steering committee on the London Stock Exchange during the period from 1986 to 1993 and was a board member of the Central Electricity Generating Board between 1987 and 1989.
Since 1999, Walker has chaired the Russian Venture Company Greenhouse Fund and has held the role of vice-chairman at Legal & General Assurance Co. since 2004. His non-executive directorships include terms at National Power in both 1990 and again from 1993 to 1994. Additionally, he has been involved with British Invisibles (1993–97), Reuters Holdings (1994–2000), and served on the board of the SIB from 1988 to 1992. He also led the inquiry into the LMX Spiral at the Council of Lloyd’s in 1992, where he was a member between 1988 and 1992.
Walker has been affiliated with the Group of Thirty since joining in 1993; he has served as treasurer since 1998 and as trustee since 2007. His leadership extended to chairing the London Investment Bankers' Association from 2002 until 2004 and participating in the Moroccan British Business Council between 2000 and 2007. Starting in 2005, he chaired the University of Cambridge’s campaign celebrating its eight-hundredth anniversary and was governor of Henley Management College from 1993 through to 1999. Moreover, he headed Community Links, a charitable organization based in East London, and received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree (LL.D.) from the University of Exeter in 2002.
Since the year 2015, Sir David has been serving as Chairman of financial blockchain enterprise SETL Ltd.