Banks compete for prized Barclays broker mandate

Barclays is considering replacing its corporate brokers not long after appointing John McFarlane as new chairman.

Banks are hurrying to throw together a pitch to become the broker of Barclays, after the bank announced it was putting its broking mandate under review. The group’s current corporate brokers Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse have been invited to repitch for the position, but will face competition from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and UBS, according to CityAM.

The international London-based bank is valued at £45 billion and is apparently deciding to consider other brokers as part of its annual general housekeeping. However, the decision does follow hot on the heels of the recent appointment of John McFarlane as chairman.

Mr McFarlane replaced former chairman David Walker in April as part of a drive to improve profitability and investor returns that was initiated by chief executive officer Antony Jenkins. The position of broker, that has been enjoyed by Credit Suisse for a quarter of a century and by Deutsche bank since 2011, often lead to key, lucrative advisory roles and as such are coveted by investment banks.

According to a Bloomberg report, Barclays is also reviewing its auditor despite being with PwC for over 100 years. The report noted that Barclays will be announcing a decision over the next two months.

Barclays has been in the news recently for partnering with the social network, Twitter, in order to send or receive money just by using a person’s Twitter handle and the bank’s mobile payment service app, Pingit.

Meanwhile, the bank has been aiming to revamp apprenticeship schemes by launching a new scheme aimed at those aged 50 and over. The idea behind the scheme is to encourage hiring in the 50 to 64 age range, where it’s estimated that one million people were forced out of their jobs due to their age. It will complement the number of government backed programs that are focused on getting young people into jobs and support the new pledge to tackle ageism in the workplace.

After rebounding off a low just above the 200 level in July 2014, Barclays’ shares now trade just shy of a 15-month high above 270 that was reached a little more than a week ago. Many analysts predict that a share price of 300 is a potential next target as long as market conditions don’t change.