Barclays’ high-profile managing director and general counsel (GC) for the Americas, Michael Crowl, is leaving to head UBS’ US wealth management division, replacing former permanent head Jonathan Eisenberg, who returned to K&L Gates last year.
A spokesperson for Barclays confirmed that the bank has, until a permanent replacement is announced, put in place two interim heads: New York-based Kevin Genirs and Marcelo Riffaud.
Genirs, a former Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson lawyer, is managing director (MD) – Office of the General Counsel, and joined Barclays in 2008 from Lehman Brothers.
Riffaud joined Barclays as MD and senior counsel from Deutsche Bank in 2012.
Crowl joined Barclays Global Investors (BGI) in 2007 from Goldman Sachs, where he was latterly MD and GC of the financial institution’s core investment banking division and capital markets group, heading a team of 30 lawyers and 14 paralegals to provide global legal coverage.
The former Cravath, Swaine & Moore associate joined BGI in October 2007, overseeing a team of 52 lawyers, eight paralegals and 75 compliance personnel, and led the in-house team on the sale of BGI to BlackRock in December 2009 for around $15bn.
Since becoming Barclays’ New York-based MD and GC of the Americas in February 2010, Crowl has overseen the legal coverage for all Barclays Bank’s business in North America and South America – through a team of around 170 lawyers and paralegals – which include Barclays Corporate and Investment Banking (formerly known as Barclays Capital) and Barclaycard.
Crowl will start with UBS in July, with interim head Brent Taylor set to return to his role as head of legal for the bank’s wealth management and investment solutions, reporting to Crowl.
caroline.hill@legalease.co.uk