Barclays CEO retreats from tough stance on banker bashing

Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, has said banks must accept responsibility for what went wrong during the financial crisis admitting they still had a long way to go to restore public trust.

In a BBC lecture on Thursday night, Diamond claimed banks needed to learn the lessons of past failures to "become better citizens", according to the Financial Times.

His comments mark a sharp retreat from earlier this year, when he came under fire for claiming the "time for remorse needs to be over".

Last night Diamond said bankers had done a "poor job" of explaining how they contributed to society and admitted many people saw little difference in the way they behaved now.

"First, we have to build a better understanding of how businesses and banks work together to generate economic growth; second, we have to accept responsibility for what has gone wrong; finally, most importantly, we have to use the lessons learned to become better and more effective citizens," he said.

Diamond's remarks come soon after the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke approvingly of "the moral agenda" of the anti-poverty protestors outside St Paul's Cathedral.

Diamond - one of Britain's highest paid bankers - has previously been criticised for failing to recognise the shortcomings of his industry.

However, critics said his new approach - which has involved putting "citizenship" on a par with other key objectives such as boosting the bank's capital position, returns and income growth - was intended to rehabilitate his own reputation after the public backlash against his earlier comments.