'Mr Angry' says he spread 'sexist' slurs against stock exchange chief

Clara Furse may have breached a previously impenetrable all-male preserve when she became the first woman to head the London Stock Exchange two years ago. But just when she was beginning to get comfortable, she has fallen victim to one of the oldest tricks in the book: a vicious City whispering campaign about her private life, designed to unseat a woman whose only crime seems to have been that she shattered the glass ceiling.

The Stock Exchange has traced back the seemingly bizarre attack to a group of traders. Their complaints, which have found their way onto a website run by Lee Oliver, a former trader who dubs himself "Mr Angry", reflect a dissatisfaction with the way Ms Furse, 45, is running the show at the historic share trading organisation.

But the Stock Exchange believes it is no coincidence that the attack on Ms Furse, one of the most high-profile women in the City, has concentrated on her personal life. Don Cruickshank, chairman of the Stock Exchange, said yesterday that the rumours were a "clear example of sexism in the City".

Mr Cruickshank, who has worked with Ms Furse since her appointment in January 2001, made the comment after he had already branded the allegations "outrageous, totally unfounded and offensive slurs" after they were alluded to in weekend newspapers.

His strongly worded comments reflect the seriousness with which the organisation is taking the smear campaign, and the distress felt by a woman who said on her appointment that she had not encountered sexism. Ms Furse, born and educated in Canada but a veteran of 25 years in the City, has always tried to underplay her gender difference from most of her colleagues. Interviewed just after her appointment, Ms Furse appeared to react with horror when asked if she was a feminist. "I like men, I like people, I like being part of a team," she said.

A veteran investment banker who has worked at UBS Warburg and Credit Lyonnais, she was also asked by the team who appointed her at the Exchange if she felt comfortable working in such a macho environment – she said she did.

One source praised Ms Furse, saying: "Clara is not a hypocrite. She has never tried to make something out of her being a woman. She has just got on with the job."

Nevertheless, Ms Furse has not been able to avoid attracting comments relating to her gender. One observer said: "Everyone called her Boadicea the Second and said she was a tough nut. In the City you are expected to be tough. If she had been male it would not have been mentioned."

This is a story familiar to a number of high-flying women. Carol Galley, the stellar fund manager who used to head Mercury Asset Management, attracted more comments about her designer clothes than her defence of her professional record, when she fought a court case last year against a former corporate client.

The client, Unilever's pension fund, was also represented by a woman, Wendy Mayall, leading to predictable descriptions of the battle as a "cat fight" in some newspapers and City bars.

A slew of court cases for alleged sexism in the City has brought some women a windfall of compensation payments. The latest was brought by Kate Bleasdale, an entrepreneur sacked from her own company by her chairman for not being sexy enough for investors. She won £2.2m in December, the largest award yet for sexual harassment.

City sources believe the gossip about Ms Furse, which has been circulating for a few weeks, is also a sly attempt to undermine her professionally after she has failed to find a major merger partner for the Stock Exchange from a list of international suitors.

The Stock Exchange's record proves that brokers and market makers who use it are not afraid to oust their bosses when they disappoint them. Ms Furse's two predecessors, Gavin Casey and Michael Lawrence, were both thrown out after bloody battles within their organisation even though they had impeccable old school credentials.

One person familiar with the situation said: "It is not new for the knives to be out at the Exchange. It has always been treacherous water to negotiate because there are so many competing interests and factions. Clara has done quite well but many people think she should have done a deal."

There is no suggestion Ms Furse, who earns about £1m a year, is anywhere near the executioner's block. But as she is also about to lose the support of Mr Cruickshank when he retires in July, she may be wondering if she wants to stay on.