Investment banker Jeff Weiss is resigning as Barclays Capital's (BCS) head of global financial institutions to pursue "entrepreneurial opportunities," according to an internal company memo.
The memo sent out Thursday by Barclays' head of global investment banking Hugh E. "Skip" McGee" Weiss did not name a replacement for Weiss. It said Weiss would be "transitioning responsibilities over the next couple of months."
Weiss was a top Lehman Brothers banker running its global financial institutions practice when Barclays acquired most of its North American operations out of bankruptcy in 2008. He has been head of financial institutions at Barclays since then.
Weiss joined Lehman in 1983 as a bond trader and during his career there ran or helped run its global finance, debt capital markets, and Latin American banking businesses, among others.
His main focus at Barclays has been to rebuild Lehman's old banking practice stateside and abroad. Rival Jefferies & Co. lured away a number of bankers away from Weiss' team in 2010.
Barclays, like other large players looking for action in the tepid bank U.S. bank merger-and-acquisitions market, has also moved down market to go after types of regional banking deals that only boutiques focused on prior to the downturn.
Among some of Barclays engagements on his watch: co-advising Capital One Financial (COF) on its deal for ING Groep NV's online U.S. bank last year, and advising the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on its sale of IndyMac Federal Bank in 2009.
