Barclays to rejig India top management

Jaideep Khanna tipped to become chief executive officer of corporate, investment bank

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

Khanna is currently the managing director of Barclays’ corporate and investment banking businesses in India. “Khanna will become the CEO subject to regulatory approvals, which are expected soon,” said a source. Khanna will now report to Robert Morrice, chairman and CEO of Barclays in Asia-Pacific. He will also continue to report to Matthew Ginsburg, head of investment banking at Barclays Asia-Pacific.

Sources said there was no CEO for Barclays’ corporate and investment banking business in India after the British lender merged the two businesses in calendar year 2011. However, the bank’s wealth management head in India, Satya Bansal, will not report to Khanna, sources said. Mani Subramanian, who was Barclays’ CEO 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 bank’s employees 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 including residential mortgages, personal loans and advances to small business units were valued at about Rs 3,200 crore at the beginning of this calendar year.

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

Recently, Barclays decided to shut three of its nine retail bank branches in India — Ahmednagar, Rajahmundry and Junagarh. For now, the bank will retain the remaining branches to carry out its corporate banking operations.