Barclays Taps JPMorgan Chase Veteran For COO

Barclays CEO James E. Staley hails from JPMorgan, and now, the bank’s COO will as well. Barclays announced yesterday that Paul Compton, formerly JPMorgan’s chief administrative officer, would join in May as COO. In this role, he will be reporting to Staley directly.

“For nearly 20 years, Mr. Compton has served in a variety of senior operating roles. His huge, directly relevant experience will prove invaluable as we continue our strategic transformation and manage the required changes under Structural Reform,” Staley remarked in a company press release about the news.

According to a New York Times report, Compton marks the second longtime JPMorgan employee to join Barclays in the past few weeks.

Staley turned to another veteran of JPMorgan Chase to fill out the bank’s executive ranks. C. S. Venkatakrishnan, head of operational risk at JPMorgan, was recently announced to join the firm in May as well.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Barclays and its talented team. Over the last few years, Barclays has taken a number of steps to enhance its operating structures and become more efficient. The result has been the strong core businesses across retail and wholesale banking in the group today. I’m looking forward to working with Jes and the rest of the management team to continue the progress of the business and deliver the performance Barclays’ shareholders expect,” Compton said in the release.

Barclays also announced the departure of its current COO, Jonathan Moulds, who will leave to pursue other opportunities (which the bank did not specifically name). 

“I am very grateful to Jonathan for all that he has contributed to the firm in his time with Barclays and in particular for the enormous effort he has given in leading our structural reform program to date. While I would have liked him to have stayed with the company in another capacity, I understand his desire to move on and find a new challenge,” Staley said in the company release.