Sir Hector Sants forced to quit Barclays temporarily due to stress

Sir Hector Sants today became the latest top executive forced to quit temporarily due to stress (Reuters)

Sir Hector Sants, one of the most senior bankers of his generation, today became the latest top executive forced to quit temporarily due to stress.

Formerly the chief executive of the Financial Service Authority regulator, Mr Sants is taking time off from his post at Barclays as head of compliance.

In a move reminiscent of the temporary stepping-back of Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio in 2011, a Barclays spokesman said Mr Sants’ decision to step back was due to a diagnosis of “exhaustion and stress”.

His illness will inevitably give rise to renewed calls for the high stress levels of City workers to be dealt with.

Mr Sants was one of the chief architects of banking regulatory policy through the global financial crisis and took on his post at Barclays in January.

He is expected to be off work for about three months, not returning until the New Year.

Sants bore the brunt of many bruising encounters with politicians on the Treasury Select Committee during the financial crisis as the regulator took the blame for inadequate supervision of nationalised Northern Rock’s risky business model.

Prior to his positions at the regulator and the Bank of England, he had held senior posts in the private sector, running Credit Suisse First Boston’s European operations