Barclays

The big question remains when governments will return to fiscal consolidation. How will NPLs fare when taxpayer support is withdrawn is also in doubt.

Barclays wants to be compared with the big five US investment banks. So let’s do that.

Many banks could press strong claims to be western Europe’s best investment bank for the first year of Covid – when all issuers desperately needed financing, corporations and sovereigns sought strategic advice and investors required ideas and liquidity to rapidly adjust market exposures.

A new group at the top of the investment bank’s coverage effort is another indication of where its priorities now lie.

Barclays has long wanted to rebuild the European ECM franchise it got rid of in 1997 with the sale of BZW, but has often struggled to do so. With a foundation of corporate broking in the UK and hiring in continental Europe, it’s finally making some progress.

Barclays has rediscovered its appetite for its markets business under CEO Jes Staley. Macro head Michael Lublinsky says there are now encouraging opportunities in emerging markets and corporate FX.

Two years ago, Barclays began to build a dedicated sustainable investment banking coverage group. Aimed at emerging growth companies, as well as the bank’s mature large cap clients, it’s a big element of a wider collaboration effort at Barclays.

Barclays’ Asia investment bank is rebuilding after a traumatic restructuring in 2016. After a few years of steady growth, a more focused approach could make it more efficient than before.

The surprise exit of Absa chief executive Daniel Mminele in April, only 15 months into the job, shows how much the South African group is still finding its way in the post-Barclays era. Mminele – Absa’s first black CEO – was seen in some quarters as losing a power struggle against an overwhelmingly white executive team. Can the next chief executive gain the authority to drive Absa’s revival?