“I worried about the implications of accepting it,” Parker acknowledged as he was honoured by Capital Link at its annual March conference at the Metropolitan Club.

After all, two recent recipients of the award — longtime competitors Dagfinn Lunde of DVB and Lambros Varnavides of RBS — did indeed enter retirement soon afterward.

“I made one thing very clear — I may be shy, but I am certainly not retiring,” Parker told a luncheon audience. 

“I