London, July 8 (IANS): British banking group Barclays on Wednesday announced the departure of Antony Jenkins as chief executive three years after he was appointed in the wake of the Libor scandal.

The bank said Jenkins would be temporarily replaced by its chairman, John McFarlane. The search for Jenkins's successor was underway.

In a statment, Barclays said: "The board recognises the contribution made by Antony Jenkins as chief executive over the past three years in incredibly difficult circumstances for the group, and is extremely grateful to him in bringing the company to a much stronger position."

But reports said Jenkins was fired as he fell out with the board over the bank's cost cutting and profitability, according to Xinhua news agency.

"As a group, if we aspire to bring shareholder returns forward, we need to be much more focused on what is attractive, what we are good at, and where we are good at it," McFarlane said.

"We therefore need to improve revenue, costs and capital performance," he added.

Jenkins was appointed as chief executive of Barclays in 2012 following the departure of Bob Diamond, who left in the wake of the a scandal that involved a series of fraudulent actions connected to the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor).