That contrasts with its old approach of trying to be a global investment bank across a large number of markets. The bank is targeting an overall return on equity of 11pc. The investment banking arm only managed 5.5pc in the third quarter, though that was up from 3.3pc in the same period of 2014. The investment bank’s boss, Tom King, told staff that Mr Bagguley’s appointment should help the bank “to build on the great progress we have made so far, and more quickly deliver for our clients the huge potential in our business”. “Firstly, he will work closely with me and his partners on the Executive Committee to accelerate overall delivery of our strategy,” said Mr King, in an internal memo seen by the Telegraph. “Secondly, he will ensure that our infrastructure functions are aligned and coordinated to support that acceleration. "Finally, he will provide the incremental senior leadership capacity to coordinate and deliver projects across the onvestment bank, front-to-back, that further accelerate our strategy in specific areas.” Barclays has been pushing through reforms since mid-2014 when former chief executive Antony Jenkins unveiled a programme to cut costs and boost returns. Chairman John McFarlane ousted Mr Jenkins this year, arguing that the process was taking too long and needed to be accompanied by substantial cuts to the bank’s internal bureaucracy. It is also thought that Mr Jenkins was deemed to be lacking in investment banking experience. New chief executive Jes Staley is now in charge of the process. The former head of JP Morgan’s investment bank also has a corporate banking background, which Mr McFarlane believes puts him in a better position to understand all parts of Barclays’ operations. Mr Bagguley has been at the bank since 2001 and has worked in the markets division in Tokyo, London, New York and Johannesburg.
Barclays has promoted Mike Bagguley to the position of COO, who comes with a reputation for cutting costs; he has already shaken up the bank's currency, bond and rates business as head of macro by cutting as many as 20% of the jobs in some areas and slashing back the amount of capital consumed by the business.