Barclays is shaking up its investment bank leadership for the second time in under three years, hiring Bank of America executive Mike Joo as co-chief executive and promoting global markets chief Adeel Khan to the same role. The overhaul, announced in an internal memo from CEO CS Venkatakrishnan, ends a four-co-head structure introduced in 2024 and raises fresh questions about the future of several senior executives brought in during the previous reorganization.
New Leadership Pair
Joo, who currently serves as co-head of global investment banking at Bank of America, will be responsible for leading the investment banking division when he joins in February, subject to regulatory approval. He will be based in New York and sit on Barclays’ executive committee. Khan, who has led global markets, will take the other co-CEO role with responsibility for the markets business. “Mike has built a strong reputation for delivering results and leading through periods of change and growth,” Venkatakrishnan wrote in the memo, which was confirmed by the bank.
The move directly affects two of the four co-heads installed in 2024: Taylor Wright and Cathal Deasy, who will remain in post until Joo arrives. A third co-head, Stephen Dainton, announced his retirement last month shortly after a lateral move to chief client officer.
A Pattern of Restructuring
The latest reshuffle is the latest chapter in a restless effort by Barclays to compete with larger US rivals in investment banking. In February 2024, the bank split its corporate and investment banking units under four co-heads and announced a 2 billion pound cost-cutting plan that has since eliminated more than 5,000 roles. By mid-2025, the cost-to-income ratio had fallen toward the high 50s, and the investment bank delivered a return on equity above 12%, in line with Venkatakrishnan’s targets.
Yet the reorganization has been a source of persistent disagreement among Barclays executives and investors. The four-co-head model was intended to bring clear accountability, but critics argued it created overlap and blurred decision-making. The decision to collapse it back to two leaders signals Venkatakrishnan’s view that the bank needs sharper focus to close the gap with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley.
Competitive Pressure and Market Reaction
Barclays’ investment bank has grown its market share in equity and debt underwriting in recent years, but it still trails the top US houses by a wide margin. Bringing in Joo, a dealmaker with deep relationships in the leveraged finance market, is a direct play for higher-margin advisory mandates. The hiring also underscores a broader trend of UK banks poaching talent from American rivals to bolster their Wall Street ambitions.
Shares in Barclays closed down 0.8% at 297.4 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Monday, as investors weighed the potential for disruption against the long-term strategic rationale. The stock remains up roughly 18% year-to-date, outperforming the broader FTSE 100.
Sources: Financial Times (August 17, 2026); Bloomberg (August 17, 2026); Seeking Alpha (August 17, 2026); FStech (August 17, 2026)
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