Rich Ricci, the departing chief executive of Barclays’ investment banking arm, can argue he will be leaving the unit on a sound footing, with the bank reporting steady fixed-income trading figures in the first quarter – and the best set of equities and prime services numbers in its recent history.

The UK bank reported in its first quarter results this morning that its biggest revenue earner - fixed income, currency and commodities - posted revenues of £2.2bn. This was down 6% year-on-year from £2.32bn, however was relatively steady compared to rivals.