JPMorgan Cazenove grabs ex-Barclays FD Kheraj as CEO

Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:54am EDT

By Olesya Dmitracova and Steve Slater

LONDON (Reuters) - JPMorgan Cazenove said on Monday that former Barclays Plc finance director Naguib Kheraj will take over as its new chief executive in October.

The investment bank said on Monday he will take up the position on October 6, filling the gap left at the helm of one of Britain's best-known corporate advisors since its last chief executive stepped down in March.

Analysts said Kheraj was well respected at Barclays and his resignation in October 2006 was a surprise but was partly blamed on the increasing regulatory burden on a finance director and limited chance to move up to chief executive in the near future.

At the time analysts said the well-connected Kheraj was likely to return to investment banking or private equity.

JPMorgan Cazenove was set up in 2005 by British brokerage Cazenove and U.S. investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Cazenove is financial adviser to Barclays so Kheraj had links with JPMorgan Cazenove during the decade he spent at Britain's third biggest bank.

Aged 44, he was Barclays finance director for three years and before that held senior positions at investment bank Barclays Capital and its wealth management and fund management arms. He was previously chief financial officer in Europe for Salomon Brothers.

"Both we and our clients are very fortunate that he (Kheraj) will now be leading this firm as it consolidates its position as the UK's foremost investment bank and builds on its international franchise," JPMorgan Cazenove's chairman, David Mayhew, said in a statement.

Mayhew, a Cazenove veteran who acted as the venture's chief executive while a successor was sought, added on a conference call with journalists that JPMorgan Cazenove had no job-cutting program in place and would continue to hire selectively.

Many global banks have been reducing headcount since the credit crunch took hold last August.

JPMorgan Cazenove declined to comment on Kheraj's salary.

He was paid over 5 million pounds ($9.9 million) by Barclays in 2007, mainly due to 4.9 million pounds for advisory work from May to December related to the failed attempt to buy Dutch bank ABN Amro.

As finance director from January 2007 to March 2007 he earned 657,000 pounds in salary and bonus. He was paid 2.6 million pounds in 2006.

He also advises Britain's Financial Services Authority on supervision of banks. He has been in that part-time role since April.

(Editing by David Holmes, Greg Mahlich)