As per the reports the current chief executive of Barclays, John Varley is to be replaced by Bob Diamond at the time of the annual meeting of the company which is set to be held in next April.

Currently Mr. Bob Diamond runs investment banking, corporate banking and investment management arm of Barclays which includes the Barclays Capital. This news was announced on Tuesday and surprised the city and Wall Street.

Mr. John Varley will step down from his post on 31st of March in next year and Mr. Bob Diamond will work as the deputy chief executive and president of the firm from 1st October before taking up the roe of chief executive.

According to market experts this was a very surprising decision taken by the Barclays board. Mr. Diamond and Mr. Varley went up head to head for the post before six years when Matthew Barrett stepped down from his post.

But Mr. Diamond was given the role of running the Barclays Capital and since then it has generated ever increasing profits for the bank. Most of the board members had voted for Mr. Diamond as their next chief executive.