In Brief: Barclays Unit Hires Foreign Exchange Exec

BZW, the global investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC, last week said it had tapped an experienced executive, David Johnson, to head up foreign exchange sales within the global markets division in the Americas.

Mr. Johnson, who has been named a director at BZW, joins from Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter, Discover & Co., where he was a principal in foreign exchange sales, responsible for hedge and mutual funds. Before that, he had spent five years at Merrill Lynch & Co., where he oversaw U.S. sales and nondollar fixed income.

Mr. Johnson will be based in New York and report to Andy Robertson, managing director and head of foreign exchange for the Americas.

"This is a natural buildup of our business," said Callum McCarthy, chief executive of BZW's North American operations. "We believe that we have a strong foreign exchange franchise, and it's one we want to develop further."