Barclays has appointed Mike Joo, a former senior Bank of America executive, as co-chief executive of its Investment Bank alongside Adeel Khan from February 2027, the UK lender said in an announcement on 17 August. The appointment is subject to regulatory approval, in line with the standard process for senior banking hires in the United Kingdom.
Joo will join Barclays in early 2027 from Bank of America, where he most recently served as co-head of Global Investment Banking. Khan, currently head of Global Markets and co-head of the Investment Bank since 2021, will become joint chief executive of the division on the same date. Both will sit on the group's Executive Committee, giving each a seat at the top table of Barclays' governance.
GROUP CEO REBALANCES LEADERSHIP
The appointments were announced by Group Chief Executive C. S. Venkatakrishnan, who has been reshaping Barclays' senior leadership as part of a wider strategic overhaul of the bank. The Investment Bank remains one of the largest contributors to group revenue, and its leadership structure is closely watched by investors judging the group's strategic direction.
Splitting the top job between two co-chief executives is a model with a long history at investment banks, allowing the group to combine deep expertise in Markets with equivalent seniority in Banking. Khan's background in Global Markets and Joo's in Investment Banking provides that pairing at Barclays, matching the two pillars of a modern wholesale franchise.
Khan's elevation from co-head to joint chief executive formalises a role he has effectively held since 2021 in tandem with Global Markets. The addition of Joo brings external senior banking talent into the top rung of the division, a common lever pulled by European wholesale banks looking to strengthen their advisory and origination franchises against US peers.
REGULATORY CLEARANCE PENDING
The February 2027 effective date reflects both Joo's transition from Bank of America and the standard regulatory clearance process for senior banking appointments in the UK. Under Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority rules, individuals taking on senior management functions must be approved before they can begin executing their responsibilities.
Both executives will report into the group chief executive and take on collective accountability for one of Barclays' largest divisions, spanning global markets, banking and research franchises across London, New York, Asia and other centres. The scale of the division makes the co-leadership model both practical and demanding for those who hold it.
The appointment is likely to be read alongside Venkatakrishnan's earlier strategic pronouncements about the future direction of the Investment Bank, which the group has signalled it wants to make more capital-efficient while retaining its scale in flow markets and financing. Getting the leadership right is central to executing that plan.
For Bank of America, Joo's departure removes a senior banker from its investment banking leadership. He was one of the co-heads of Global Investment Banking at the US firm at the time of the Barclays announcement, according to the UK group's statement, giving a sense of the seniority of the hire. Senior banker moves at that level tend to draw attention across the industry as peer institutions monitor the shifting landscape of talent among global wholesale franchises.