Barclays research co-head Jon Scoffin is leaving the bank

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• Jon Scoffin, co-head of Barclays’ research division, is leaving the firm.
• The bank has also been slashing managing director roles and other senior jobs as part of a broader reorganization that kicked off earlier this year.

LONDON — A cull of senior managers at Barclays started earlier this year has yet to abate as Jon Scoffin, co-head of the bank’s research division, is leaving the firm.

His departure was announced in an internal memo earlier this month from Tim Throsby, the head of firm’s corporate and investment bank, according to a person who has seen the memo.   

Scoffin had co-headed the division with Jeff Meli, who will now run research on his own, the person said. Scoffin could not be reached for comment.

Scoffin started with Barclays retail bank before joining the investment bank in 1989. In 2003, he relocated to Singapore, spending 11 years in Asia building the research platform.  In 2014, Scoffin was named Global Head of Equity Research and in 2015 was named co-head of Research alongside Meli.

Barclays is known as one of the more top-heavy firms in The City. Recently, the bank has been slashing managing director roles and other senior jobs as part of a broader reorganization that kicked off earlier this year. A strong set of second-quarter results, reported last month, has helped buoy management amid the staffing shake-up. The specific reason for Scoffin leaving is unclear.

The moves come amid a regulatory overhaul that is leading banks to take a harder look at spending on equity research divisions, after a European Union crackdown on trading and research fees came into effect in January. 

The new rules, dubbed MiFID II, require that banks must charge separately for research. In the past, banks gave research to fund managers for free to lure lucrative trading commissions.  

Scoffin’s move comes as Chief Investment Officer of Barclays International Art Mbanefo takes on more responsibilities. The remit of Mbanefo, who runs Barclays’ Financing Resource Management (FiRM) team, will now include overseeing business managers and the office of the CEO, according to an announcement at the bank in late August. 

A Barclays spokesman declined to comment on Scoffin or on the specifics of Mbanefo’s new duties.