Barclays Has Agreed To Stop Speculating On Food Prices

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British megabank Barclays has agreed to stop speculating on food prices, according to the World Development Movement (via New Yorker's Rebecca Mead) — though it remains unclear whether it will stop offering such contracts to customers.

CEO Antony Jenkins said the practice was “not compatible with our purpose”.

The practice has been criticized for driving up the price of foodstuffs. The WDM says The bank made up to an estimated £500 million from speculating on food in 2010 and 2011.

The bank is undergoing a full blown transformation.

According to EconomicVoice.com, Jenkins recently told UK MPs he would build a “socially useful” bank and “shred situations where we’re short-termist, too aggressive and too self-centred.”

The Guardian says not all Jenkins' promises have been well received by City rank and file.

Some in the investment bank are reported to have jeered during a session on cleaning up the culture. Jenkins insists he has a "good personal relationship" with Rich Ricci, head of the investment bank and a former lieutenant of Diamond.

Barclays also recently announced a round of layoffs. On Monday, investigators will reveal the true source of a "mysterious" investment that helped balast the bank during the recession. It had previously been accused of obscuring the funds' true source.