Exclusive: Top Barclays investment bankers decamp for UBS

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A logo of Swiss bank UBS is seen in Zurich
A logo of Swiss bank UBS is seen in Zurich, Switzerland March 29, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - (This May 15 story has been corrected to remove references to investment bankers being in telecom, media and technology sectors in the headline and paragraph 1)
At least seven top Barclays Plc (BARC.L), opens new tab investment bankers have resigned to join UBS Group AG (UBSG.S), opens new tab in the United States in the last few days, people familiar with the matter said.
The moves add to a trio of Barclays U.S. investment bankers that UBS announced it hired last month. They illustrate how UBS is beefing up its bench of U.S. talent even as it is set to inherit Credit Suisse Group AG's (CSGN.S), opens new tab investment banking group following a Swiss government-orchestrated takeover in March. Many Credit Suisse bankers are based in the United States.
UBS has hired Laurence Braham, Richard Hardegree, Richard Casavechia, Ozzie Ramos, Jason Williams, Neil Meyer and Ken Tittle from Barclays, the sources said. These bankers follow Barclays ex-colleagues Marco Valla, Jeff Hinton and Kurt Anthony, whose moves to UBS were announced in April.
The sources requested anonymity to discuss confidential personnel matters. Barclays did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while UBS declined to comment.
UBS and Credit Suisse, neighbors in their hometown of Zurich, competed head-to-head over decades for mergers and initial public offerings across the world. Sources told Reuters last month that UBS plans to retain only a small number of Credit Suisse senior bankers with strong client relationships.
Credit Suisse was planning to spin off its investment banking operations into a standalone business with veteran dealmaker Michael Klein at the helm. UBS vetoed that plan following the rescue of its Swiss peer.
At Barclays, Braham was global chair of investment banking for technology, while Hardegree served as vice chair and head of technology M&A. They worked on some of the biggest deals in the technology sector, including chip maker Broadcom Inc's (AVGO.O), opens new tab $61 billion deal to buy business software maker VMware Inc (VMW.N), opens new tab in 2022.
Casavechia was global chair of banking at Barclays. Ramos served as vice chair and head of communications, cable and satellite. Williams, Meyer and Tittle were managing directors in the investment banking group.

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Reporting by Milana Vinn and Anirban Sen in New York Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Lisa Shumaker

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Milana Vinn reports on technology, media, and telecom (TMT) mergers and acquisitions. Her content usually appears in the markets and deals sections of the website. Milana previously worked at GLG and PE Hub, where she spent several years covering TMT deals in private equity. She graduated from CUNY Graduate School of Journalism with Masters in Business Journalism.

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Anirban Sen is the Editor in Charge for U.S. M&A at Reuters in New York, where he leads the coverage of the biggest deals. After starting with Reuters in Bangalore in 2009, Anirban left in 2013 to work as a technology deals reporter in several leading business news outlets in India, including The Economic Times and Mint. Anirban rejoined Reuters in 2019 as Editor in Charge, Finance to lead a team of reporters, covering everything from investment banking to venture capital. Anirban holds a history degree from Jadavpur University and a post-graduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media.

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