Morning Coffee: Barclays layoffs dwindle from 85 to 30 a day. Former Goldman Sachs M&A head hires wife

Of all the investment banks anywhere, Barclays' was supposed to do worst after Brexit. In a note out before the UK referendum, Bernstein banking analyst Chirantan Barua warned that the British bank would need to become more aggressive at cutting costs if Britain voted to leave the EU, and that extra layoffs would be the likely result.

The Financial Times says that Barclays has indeed made additional redundancies in the past few months, but the pace at which it's doing so is slowing rather than speeding up. In the four months to April 2016, Barclays cut headcount by 8,000 people. In the three months from mid-April to mid-July, it's cut an additional 3,000. The daily tally of layoffs has therefore gone from around 85 to around 30. So much for Brexit making things worse.

Of course, there's always the potential for things to step up a bit when Barclays announces its second quarter results this Friday. Staley's job cuts so far have been based upon a policy of inaction - he's simply refused to make external replacement hires when existing staff leave. This strategy was always likely to deliver diminishing returns once the most mobile staff had disappeared for more interesting jobs elsewhere. If Barclays wants to cut costs more quickly at its investment bank in the second half, it may need to cull headcount more proactively.

Separately, Gordon Dyal, the 53 year-old ex-head of global M&A at Goldman Sachs, has found the perfect 'retirement career'. Reuters reports that Dyal has hired his wife and several former Goldman colleagues to work for his boutique firm Dyal Co. Dyal retired from Goldman after 16 years in March 2015. Last time we looked, the couple were producing Bison calves on a ranch in Montana. 

Meanwhile:

The UK may be able to negotiate a seven year emergency brake on the EU freedom of movement rules for up to seven years, whilst still accessing the EU single market (and benefiting from passporting). (Observer) 

Senior Tory MPs insist that total control of migration is a “red line” in the Brexit negotiations. (The Times)

Writing as someone who backed Brexit, and who heads a free market think-tank, I was always concerned the goal of cutting immigration and ending the free movement of productive workers from the EU while retaining unfettered access to the continent’s marketplace was a mirage. Soon, the voters will also come to realise this. (Daily Mail) 

Boris Johnson insists the UK will keep its passporting rights: "“The New York commercial scene regards this as an opportunity for the UK.” (Financial Times) 

European investors pulled at least €1bn from each of M&G, Schroders, Fidelity and Invesco in June. (Financial Times) 

Odey's Brexit bounce didn't last: The Odey European hedge fund was down by 30% in the year to July 14. (Financial News) 

Capital Group, one of the largest asset managers in the world, is looking to expand into Germany. (Handlesblatt) 

In investment banking, 2015 European revenue per head was little more than half that in the Americas. (Financial News)

About one in three workers at U.K. tech start-ups come from outside the U.K. (Bloomberg) 

One large Wall Street bank had a junior staffer fom a prominent Chinese family who had a habit of wearing a different Patek Philippe watch to the office for each day of the week. (CNBC) 

Why banking pay doesn't fall: firms pay premium wages to make employees value their jobs more highly. This makes workers less likely to shirk their responsibilities, because they would lose more if they were caught and got fired. It also explains why pay doesn't fall when there are plenty of unemployed who are willing to work for less. (Economist)  

Jes Staley's brother is an Aids activist who was addicted to crystal meth. (Fortune) 

10 habits of male attorneys that annoy their female counterparts. (Law)

Photo credit: Barclays by Insider Monkey is licensed under CC BY 2.0.