British bank Barclays PLC ICITF has landed veteran deal maker Geoffrey Belsher for a second stint as head of its Canadian operations, the first step in rebuilding its team after losing the bulk of its executives here to a rival bank.
On Friday, London-based Barclays said Mr. Belsher will start Monday as chair and country chief executive officer in Canada. Mr. Belsher arrives after at least nine Barclays professionals, including former Toronto-based CEO Bruce Rothney, left in recent weeks to build a Canadian business for New York-based Jefferies Financial Group Inc.
Barclays Canada loses more senior bankers and analysts, with Jefferies hiring most
“Barclays is proud to have served clients in Canada for close to a century and it continues to be a critical market for us as we execute on our ambitious growth plans in the Americas,” Richard Haworth, CEO for Barclays in the Americas, said in a news release.
“Barclays has a long and storied history in Canada,” said Mr. Belsher. “I’m incredibly proud to join this team and look forward to this new opportunity at Barclays.”
Barclays said under Mr. Belsher’s leadership, the investment bank aims to maintain a top five position across all products and services in Canada. A spokesperson for Barclays said Mr. Belsher has a mandate to hire talent as needed to fill out the ranks.
Over the past six weeks, Jefferies hired Barclays’ Canadian head of mergers and acquisitions, head of equity capital markets, several other investment bankers and three analysts, who covered financial institutions, mining and energy.
During the global financial crisis in 2008, Barclays acquired Lehman Brothers capital markets business – with approximately 10,000 employees – after the New York-based investment bank filed for creditor protection. A number of Lehman veterans now hold senior roles at Barclays.
In 2008, Mr. Belsher was running Lehman Brothers LHHMQ in Canada, and he joined Barclays as president of its Canadian unit as part of the acquisition. In 2009, he left to become global co-head of wholesale banking for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. He left Toronto-based CIBC in 2015 to work as an adviser to private equity fund managers at a boutique firm, Resurgam Financial.
A lawyer by training, Mr. Belsher was a partner at law firm Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP for 13 years before joining the M&A team at BMO Capital Markets in 1997. He worked at the investment bank for nine years, including a two-year stint as co-head of the Chicago office, prior to joining Lehman Brothers in 2006.
Andrew Willis