Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays Capital, has unseated Michael Sherwood, co-chief executive of Goldman Sachs International, to take the top place in the third annual Financial News list of the most influential people in the European capital markets.

In an online poll conducted by Financial News Online, Diamond was named the most influential person in the European capital markets by 45.5% of voters, almost twice as many as runner-up Anshu Jain, head of global markets at Deutsche Bank, who won 24.3% of the vote. Sherwood, who has been number one for the past two years, has dropped to third place this year, attracted 14.6% of the vote.