Why Barclays CEO Venkat Is Nearing Crunch Time
The bank thinks its cuts are over, but that depends on the turnaround at the investment bank.
Reaching for revenue: C.S. Venkatakrishnan, chief executive officer of Barclays Plc.
Photographer: Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg
Barclays Plc is halfway through the three-year plan of Chief Executive Officer CS Venkatakrishnan to boost returns and cut reliance on its investment-banking arm. The dealmaking and trading business has been the center of the UK lender’s ups and downs for years and has been put through several rounds of refocusing and cost-cutting exercises. And yet Barclays is still struggling to convince investors that the unit can fulfil its promise.
The UK bank’s executives are determined that its dieting is done, and the rewards are just around the corner. However, its bankers might be looking over their shoulders following recent headlines about jobs cuts and consultants from McKinsey & Co. hunting for efficiencies. The industry has been buoyed by an unexpected recovery in deals and capital-markets activity in the closing weeks of the second quarter following a tough start when the Trump tariff barrage sowed chaos and confusion in April.