NOT even one of Barclays’ most prominent dealmaking pushes is being spared in the bank’s cost-cutting drive.
Six people are being cut from the team of more than 100 bankers focused on energy transition that was built earlier this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The moves, which are part of broader job cuts at the company, included staffers with expertise in climate technologies, such as carbon capture and hydrogen.
The firm is also eliminating two jobs in its sustainable banking team, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing personnel information.
“These departures are in line with decisions made across other groups and are not a reflection of the strength of our sustainable finance franchise, or our ability to successfully execute against our ambitious plans and deliver for clients,” a spokeswoman for the bank said in an emailed statement.
Earlier this month, Barclays began eliminating several hundred jobs across the firm’s global markets, investment banking and research divisions as the firm embarks on a £2 billion (S$3.4 billion) cost-cutting drive that’s part of chief executive officer C S Venkatakrishnan’s broader plan to improve returns.
Shareholders have been supportive of his moves so far, sending the lender’s stock up nearly 40 per cent since the start of the year.
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The energy transition team was set up earlier this year to capitalise on an anticipated shift away from fossil fuels. The unit, which brings together bankers from power markets, natural resources and sustainable and impact investment banking, is similar to teams being set up at rivals like BNP Paribas and Citigroup, which are all keen to get a foothold in what could become a multitrillion-US dollar market.
The sustainable banking team brings together Barclays’ sustainable capital markets and ESG advisory teams. It was also created earlier this year.
Barclays executives have been touting both units’ early successes, with Venkatakrishnan telling investors this week that the energy transition team has announced nine M&A transactions since late December.
“This shows their active advisory role in one of our focus sectors,” Venkatakrishnan said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting this week.
The company has also made a number of senior hires in the broader area of sustainable finance, including Rafael Abati as co-head of its energy transition group for Europe, the Middle East and Africa region and Isabelle Millat as head of sustainable finance for the global markets division and Barclays Europe.
The UK bank, which last year reviewed transition plans for 1,250 clients in high-emitting sectors, has said its goal with the energy transition team is to serve as a guide for clients on a number of low-carbon technologies. The firm intends to increase its foothold in the energy and power sectors and also to continue to build its climate-tech investment banking business.
The UK lender has developed its own definition of transition finance, in the absence of clear regulatory standards. Any form of funding that supports the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions – directly or indirectly – in high-emitting and hard-to-abate sectors such as energy, aviation and agriculture can be considered transition finance, Barclays said earlier this year. BLOOMBERG
