Barclays Private Bank has established a presence in France and Italy by making new appointments in Paris and Milan to bring a full range of advisory and discretionary products and services to Family Offices and HNW clients, the British bank announced this morning.
The announcement comes three years after Barclays closed its retail banking operations in France, and as rival HSBC is reported to be in the final stages of selling its retail banking subsidiary in the country.
Bernard Corneau and Carlo Baronio have been appointed as heads of Private Bank Coverage in France and Italy respectively, and will co-locate with the Barclays Corporate and Investment Banking teams in existing Barclays offices in Paris and Milan.
Corneau joined Barclays Private Bank on 1 March and Baronio joins on 1 April, both will report to Pat McCormack, head of Private Bank, Barclays Europe.
In their new roles and under the leadership of Gerald Mathieu, head of Private Bank Europe and Middle East, Bernard and Carlo will connect clients to Barclays Private Bank European Bankers, Product Specialists and to Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank.
As an investment house providing banking and investments solutions for family offices and HNW clients, Barclays Private Bank meets the sophisticated needs of its clients by leveraging the wider Barclays infrastructure. In particular, its strong synergies with the Corporate and Investment Bank and their combined global reach allows the Private Bank to bring enhanced, tailored investment propositions to its clients.
Bernard Corneau joins from Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management where he was head of France, advising UHNW clients on complex investment solutions including private investment opportunities. Before this he was at Credit Suisse in charge of UHNW clients. Carlo Baronio joins from Barclays Investment Bank where he was Director in the Italian Debt Capital Markets Origination Team, advising, originating and executing on a full range of debt and capital products.
Through its robust platform in Dublin, which was recently established to service European clients, and the quality specialist teams located there, Barclays Private Bank is able to offer highly sophisticated business and investment opportunities across Europe.
Jean-Christophe Gerard, CEO, Barclays Private Bank, commented: "Barclays Private Bank has significant potential in Europe, and in France and Italy specifically, where we are investing for future growth.
"Having Private Bank professionals on the ground will enable the Private Bank to be closer to the needs of local clients while capitalising on our Dublin platform, from which we are building our EEA footprint. Our collaboration with Barclays leading Investment and Corporate Bank, which has a strong presence in these locations, will also enable us to bring bespoke solutions and banking products to Family Offices and UHNW clients in these regions."
Francesco Ceccato, CEO, Barclays Europe, added: "These appointments demonstrate our ambition to be a truly European bank, and will help us harness the synergies between our strong business platforms across the continent. I'm so pleased to welcome Bernard and Carlo to the Barclays Europe team and we look forward to further developing our position in Private Banking in Europe.
