Stephen Dainton, who has run the business in the past, has taken over as interim global head of equities, the spokesperson said, in addition to keeping his current role as co-head of global markets.

"The current strategy and client proposition for equities were set by Stephen when he previously ran the business and will not change," the bank said in an internal memo seen by Reuters and confirmed by the spokesperson.

The bank now needs a single leader for the business to keep growing market share and returns, the memo said. Barclays is conducting a search for a permanent leader for the equities business, it added.

The move is the latest in a series of changes at the top of Barclays' investment bank, after it last month appointed former Credit Suisse dealmaker Cathal Deasy and Taylor Wright as co-heads of investment banking.

The changes come while Chief Executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan is being treated for cancer, for which he has said doctors have made an optimistic prognosis, and during which he has said he will keep working.

(Reporting by Lawrence WhiteEditing by David Goodman and Mark Potter)