Barclays' Ricci Says He Ain't Going Anywhere, Gleacher Decides Against Merger

Rich Ricci, the head of investment banking at Barclays (BCS), said management was overly optimistic about the global fee pool when it chose to expand the business in the wake of the Lehman Brothers acquisition.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that Ricci told Financial News last week that he was committed to new Chief Executive Antony Jenkins' strategy for the investment bank.

During the bank's strategy day in London this week, group chief executive Antony Jenkins repeatedly refused to give his backing to Ricci by name, saying only that he had confidence in the entire executive team at Barclays.

But Ricci was clear in the interview, saying: 'I'm not going anywhere and I fully support what Antony is doing', he said.

In the meantime, Bloomberg reports that Gleacher & Co., the investment bank started by Eric J. Gleacher, has decided against a sale or merger after completing a six-month strategic review.

The firm will instead sell its ClearPoint mortgage unit to Ocwen Financial Corp., New York-based Gleacher said today in a statement. The company also posted a loss of $11.5m from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2012 as the restructuring took up management’s time.

Barclays' Rich Ricci Says He's Not Leaving

Gleacher Decides Against Merger While Selling Clearpoint