The British bank has lured a private banker specialized in Middle East clients. The move follows Barclays's second attempt in seven years to kickstart growth from its wealth management arm.
Steve Klemme is moving from UBS to Barclays, where he will head the private bank's business with wealthy Middle East clients, London-based Barclays said in a statement.
The banker, a 14-year veteran of J.P. Morgan, spent the past three years in Geneva running UBS' Saudi desk. Barclays has spent recent years deciding where private banking fits in its wider organization.
Under Chief Executive Jes Staley, the bank recently decided to hire at least 100 new private bankers in an effort to kickstart its wealth arm. Barclays is one of a vanishing breed of foreign banks in Switzerland: Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada, Lloyds and Commerzbank have all sold their Swiss banks to rivals and withdrawn.
Asia Pull-Out
The British bank, which sold its wealth arm in Asia to OCBC last year, has in the past denied speculation among investment bankers that it is preparing to pull out of Switzerland. Barclays' current business plan for wealth management is to focus on Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Separately, UBS said it would replace Klemme with Abdallah Najia, currently based in London as the Swiss bank's head of Middle East and Africa, from January 1.
