Barclays’ London bankers say one team was cut more than the rest yesterday

efinancialcareers.com:

The cuts at Barclays came early yesterday. They were expected on May 8th, but manifested themselves on May 1st instead. The number of people affected extended to “a few hundred underperformers,” said Reuters, but insiders at Barclays say some teams seemed to suffer more than the rest. 

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Barclays isn’t commenting, but London insiders say credit and securitization teams at least seemed fine. Instead, yesterday’s layoffs seemed more focused on investment banking teams, where sources say the firing was widespread and that junior bankers were particularly affected.

Within investment banking, the sustainable and impact (SIB) group is understood to have been cut particularly hard. Formed in 2019, this is acoverage team “focused on working with emerging and growth companies that are solving environmental or social challenges, and on advising clients on sustainable growth strategy and finance.” Barclays expanded the SIB in America last year, with three senior hires, including Arnoud Boksteijn from Credit Suisse.  Sources say the London cuts yesterday extended up the hierarchy in an apparent sign of retrenchment amidst ESG skepticism. They were the second set of cuts to the team after people also lost their jobs there earlier in the year. Lydia Chen, a VP who left the London team in January, has since become an entrepreneur.

Barclays has announced its intention of cutting £188m in costs from its investment bank by 2026. There are likely to be more redundancies to come.

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