Two years ago, Barclays began to build a dedicated sustainable investment banking coverage group. Aimed at emerging growth companies, as well as the bank’s mature large cap clients, it’s a big element of a wider collaboration effort at Barclays.
When Brian Reilly emailed Barclays chief executive Jes Staley in the middle of 2019 to ask whether he thought it would be a good idea for the bank to set up a dedicated sustainable investment banking (SIB) coverage effort, he didn’t expect the chief executive to be standing at his office door less than 30 minutes later. It’s not just a good idea, Staley told him, but critical: we need you to do this.