Chief executive of Barclays CS Venkatakrishnan set to begin cancer treatment in New York

Image by Barclays

Chief executive of British bank Barclays, Coimbatore Sundararajan Venkatakrishnan, has been diagnosed with cancer, the bank has said.

Known as Venkat within the bank, the boss will undergo an intensive treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma in New York.

Non-hodgkin lymphoma is a type of cancer that develops in the lymphatic system, a network of vessels and glands spread throughout the body, according to the NHS website. In most cases it is curable.

The treatment period for Venkatakrishnan is said to last between 12 and 16 weeks, during which he will be working from home at certain times.

In a letter, the 56-year-old said that his condition was curable and his doctors said that his prognosis is “excellent”.

He wrote, “During this period, the company will run normally, and I will continue to be actively engaged in managing it.

“The good news is that the matter has been detected early, with scans and biopsies confirming it to be very localised.”

A bank spokesperson confirmed that an interim chief executive had not been appointed yet. They also informed that Venkatakrishnan may have to cut back on his public engagements including a scheduled appearance at the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos next January.

Venkat was appointed to the role over a year ago after the sudden departure of former chief executive Jes Staley. Prior to that he was the head of global markets at the bank.