Barclays pays Seegers well to spearhead expansion

Barclays Bank has hired Citigroup's Frits Seegers on an elephantine package. There may be more hires to come.

Seegers, a former chief executive of Citigroup's consumer group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is joining Barclays to run its global commercial and retail operations.

The Financial Times says Seegers pay package is worth a potential 11.7m, and sees his appointment as being in keeping with Barclays chief executive John Varley's purported aim to raise the bank's 'metabolic rate' and hire talent from outside.

The Evening Standard reports that Seegers will spearhead Barclays' expansion in Africa and Europe, particularly in Spain and Italy.

How many more hires are in the pipeline is unclear, but it seems unlikely that many others will receive quite such lucrative terms.