(Adds context of Barlcays' Asia expansion, details onappointments)
HONG KONG, May 2 (Reuters) - Barclays PLC has namedAndrew Jones and Eiji Nakai as co-chief executive officers forAsia Pacific, replacing the retiring Robert Morrice who oversawthe British bank's expansion in the region following the 2008financial crisis.
Jones and Nakai's appointments are pending regulatoryapproval, the UK-based bank said in a statement on Friday. Theappointments will be effective from July 1, a spokesman for thebank said.
Morrice, 51, oversaw Barclays' Asia business for the last 12years. The bank hired an A-list of veteran Asia investmentbankers after the 2008 financial crisis, with the hope offorming a banking and equities business that would put them inthe same league as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
While that expansion initially struggled with delays in theroll-out of the equity platform and high costs, last year astrong performance from the equities division suggested some ofthat investment was paying off.
"While the 'naysayers' don't get it, it appears thatBarclays' Asian equity business is here to stay," said RussellKopp, managing director at executive search firm Correlate Asiain an email earlier this month.
Jones, currently the region's chief operating officer,joined the bank in 2000 and has worked in Hong Kong andSingapore in fixed income and corporate finance roles.
Nakai has been Barclays' Japan chief executive since 2004,and will continue in that role.
Barclays' hiring in 2009 of over 100 former Lehman Brothersequity sales and research staff, as well as 10 former investmentbankers from the failed U.S. firm, turned into a bright spot inAsia for the British bank as trading in the country boomed inthe last two years.
A Barclays spokesman said the bank had no information onwhat would happen to the role of chairman for Asia-Pacific thatthe retiring Morrice held, in addition to his duties as CEO forthe region.
(Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Stephen Coates)