PEOPLE - BarCap’s New Mission

Priorities for Jerry del Missier, named sole president at Barclays Capital in January, became a lot clearer last month after his boss, Barclays president and BarCap CEO Robert Diamond, declared his ambition to make the business a top-tier player in the U.S. Del Missier had previously shared the title with Grant Kvalheim, who resigned in January, and was already slated to move to New York from London this month. Barclays took a relatively minor £1.64 billion ($3.22 billion)of subprime-related write-downs last year, prompting Diamond to say that an opportunity now exists for BarCap to use its healthy finances to recruit talent from American rivals and replicate in the U.S. its European leadership in interest rates, currencies and commodities. “The biggest opportunity is the investment banking industry in the U.S.,” Diamond told journalists. “We want to get up to Goldman Sachs’ and Morgan Stanley’s level in the U.S.”