Barclays picks new chief operating officer for investment bank

[LONDON] British bank Barclays Plc has promoted the head of its macro markets business to chief operating officer (COO) of its investment bank, tasked with accelerating the restructuring of the business.

The London-based bank has appointed Mike Bagguley as COO for the investment bank with immediate effect, reporting to investment bank chief executive Tom King, according to a memo sent to staff by King and seen by Reuters.

Barclays is slimming down its investment bank to try to cut costs and improve profitability, and King said Bagguley would aim to accelerate delivery of that strategy.

He will also seek to align infrastructure functions and help coordinate and deliver projects and join the investment bank's executive committee, King said. "Our recent third-quarter results further validate the strategic choices we made last year but there is more to do," King told staff in the memo.

Bagguley has overseen the reduction and reshaping of the macro business, which includes interest rates, foreign exchange and commodities products, as trading revenues across the industry have fallen and tougher regulation hit profitability.

Barclays is one of several banks, including Deutsche Bank and UBS, to cut back trading activities and put more focus on areas that have been less hurt by regulation, such as equities and advisory.

Bagguley joined Barclays in 2001 on the fixed income trading desk in London and has held senior roles in Tokyo, London, New York and Johannesburg.

King said Rob Bogucki and Nat Tyce, co-heads of macro trading, and Kashif Zafar, head of macro distribution, would jointly lead the bank's macro products business.

The investment bank has not had a chief operating officer since Justin Bull left in April.

REUTERS