Barclays names Italy chief Colizzi as head of EMEA mergers and acquisitions

LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays Plc (BARC.L) has appointed Pier Luigi Colizzi, its head of banking in Italy, as head of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Polizzi, who has more than 20 years of investment banking experience, has been tasked to grow Barclays' EMEA M&A franchise. He will be based in London.

The appointment, which comes two weeks after chairman John McFarlane axed Chief Executive Anthony Jenkins, is part of a series of internal promotions.

Colizzi, who joined Barclays in 2012 as head of banking in Italy, is replacing Matthew Ponsonby, who will now focus on his role as co-chief operating officer of global banking.

Ponsonby, who has run the bank's EMEA mergers and acquisitions division since 2009, has also been appointed as a vice chairman of banking.

Ponsonby came onboard in 2009 as co-head of M&A in EMEA with Mark Warham. He later became interim head of M&A in EMEA in July 2014 when Warham joined Rothschild [ROT.UL].

Meanwhile in Italy, Alessandra Pasini is taking over from Colizzi as head of banking there.

Pasini joined Barclays in 2013 as deputy head of banking for Italy after spending 16 years at Citi (C.N).

The appointments are seen as natural progressions, a source familiar with the matter said, adding the bank aims to build on the progress it has made since its EMEA banking franchise was established in 2009.

(The story was refiled to add the missing word "comes" in the third paragraph)

(Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia; Editing by David Holmes)