Barclays to rejig top management in India

Jaideep Khanna to become CEO of corporate, investment bank

Barclays is set to rejig its top management in India. The move will see Jaideep Khanna becoming the country head and chief executive officer (CEO) of the British lender's corporate and investment banking businesses, the bank's primary operations in India following its decision to exit from the retail banking space here.

Khanna is currently the managing director of Barclays' corporate and investment banking businesses in India. "Jaideep will become the CEO subject to regulatory approvals. The approvals are expected soon," said a source familiar with the development.

Khanna will now report to Robert Morrice, chairman and chief executive of Barclays in Asia-Pacific. He will also continue to report to Matthew Ginsburg, head of investment banking at Barclays for Asia-Pacific region.

Sources said there was no chief executive for Barclays' corporate and investment banking business in India after the British lender merged the two businesses in calendar year 2011. But the bank's wealth management head in India Satya Bansal is unlikely to report to Khanna, they said.

Mani Subramanian, who was Barclays' chief executive officer here, will now oversee the bank's offshoring operations across India.

Ram Gopal, the chief operating officer (COO) of Barclays' corporate bank, is also set to take charge as COO of the merged corporate and investment banking businesses.

The employees of the bank in India are expected to receive a mail on the new appointments soon.

Barclays' spokesperson in India declined to comment for this story.

After selling its India credit card portfolio to Standard Chartered Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank in December, 2011 Barclays is currently negotiating with bidders to sell its retail banking business here. The retail assets that include residential mortgages, personal loans and advances to small business units were valued at around Rs 3,200 crore at the beginning of this calendar year.

The move was part of Barclays' strategy to focus on more profitable ventures like corporate and investment banking, and wealth management.

Recently, Barclays has decided to shut three out of its 9 retail bank branches in India. The foreign bank will shut its branches in Ahmednagar, Rajahmundry and Junagarh and retain the remaining six branches, at least for now, to carry out its corporate banking operations.