Barclays boss Diamond gears up for Russia

By Ivan Anderzhanov

Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Britain’s Barclays Bank, is gearing up for expansion in Russia despite incurring a loss of 67 million pounds in the country last year.

The bank, which has announced a doubling of net profit in its 2009 to $14.71 billion, yesterday said Barclays is looking to increase its investment in Russia because investment in new markets was helping the group to remain profitable.

The group last year hired Bob Foresman from Renaissance Capital to lead Barclays Capital, the investment subsidiary of Barclays bank.

Barcap is building out and has been hiring bankers for its traditional strengths in debt capital markets.  An equity team is expected to be hired later this year.

Barclays’ retail banking business acquired Russian lender Expobank in March 2008 for $745m. It has since rebranded and revamped Expobank’s 36 branches in western Russia.

By Ivan Anderzhanov Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Britain’s Barclays Bank, is gearing up for expansion in Russia despite incurring a loss of 67 million pounds in the country last year. The bank, which has announced a doubling of net profit in its 2009 to $14.71 billion, yesterday said Barclays is looking to increase its ...