Barclays Hires Former BofA Executive Moulds as Group COO

By Elisa Martinuzzi

Barclays Plc (BARC) is hiring former Bank of America Corp. (BAC) executive Jonathan Moulds for the newly-created role of group chief operating officer.
Moulds, a 49-year-old British citizen, starts on Feb. 2 and will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Antony Jenkins, Barclays said in a statement from London today after Bloomberg News reported the hire. The COO will oversee the lender’s structural reform program, which includes separating investment and retail operations under tougher U.K. bank rules, while accelerating the group’s Transform cost-cutting plan.
Jenkins, 53, has eliminated thousands of jobs and set up a bad bank for unwanted assets to make the lender more profitable since the Libor-rigging scandal in 2012 cost his predecessor, Robert Diamond, his job. While the CEO pledged to overhaul the bank’s culture, his efforts have been hampered by a series of scandals such as probes into currency market manipulation.
“My decision to create a group COO role at this time is specifically intended to ensure we continue to deliver on our strategy, but more importantly to accelerate
execution where possible,” Jenkins said in the statement. “There are multiple major change programs in flight across the group, designed to achieve our ambitious goals, and which will in turn help to drive the sustainable returns our shareholders deserve.”

Photographer: Neal Hamberg/Bloomberg

Former Bank of America Corp. Executive Jonathan Moulds.

Stricter Rules

Barclays shares fell 1.1 percent to 230.40 pence at 10:53 a.m. in London, after declining about 10 percent last year.
Moulds spent more than 15 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in roles such as CEO of Merrill Lynch International and head of BoAML Europe. He left the company at the end of 2012.
The native of Halifax, England, also brings relationships with U.K. regulators, one of the people said.
British banks are under pressure to boost their capital buffers and revamp businesses amid stricter rules designed to avoid a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis that forced Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY) into taking state aid. Regulators require lenders with more than 25 billion pounds ($38 billion) of deposits to erect firebreaks between their consumer-lending operations and investment banks.
“This is a period of profound change for Barclays as the group builds momentum in the implementation of its strategy and deals with external forces including structural reform,” Moulds said in the statement. “I am looking forward to taking up my new post and to working with Antony and my colleagues on the Executive Committee in helping the bank realize its full potential.”