Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of the UK bank, aims to increase staff in the Americas by about 16% in the next 12 months, in line with the growth rate of the previous 12 months when it added 400 employees.

BarCap president Jerry del Missier, who has relocated to New York from London, said that although the figure was not a hard target, he particularly wanted to add in financial institutions and the equities business.