Barclays PLC Chairman John McFarlane said the bank has engaged in "good dialogue" with activist investor Edward Bramson, but he criticized him for presenting views that "are just not valid," Bloomberg News reported Dec 12.

Bramson, whose Sherborne Investors acquired a roughly 5% stake in the lender in 2018, has called for management to downsize the markets division of its investment bank.

McFarlane said the lender has been "very diligent" in assessing Bramson's views, which the chairman has found to be unconvincing.

"[Bramson] has made some critical points, but at this point he hasn’t come up with a solution," said McFarlane.

Rothschild & Co. SCA deputy Chairman Nigel Higgins will succeed McFarlane when he retires as chairman on May 2, 2019. McFarlane has been chairman of the British bank since April 2015.