(Reuters) - Barclays Plc (>> Barclays PLC) said on Monday it had hired a Goldman Sachs Group Inc (>> Goldman Sachs Group Inc) veteran of 14 years to head up mergers and acquisitions for its Americas financial institutions practice.

The London-based bank said Tom Vandever will be a managing director and is to join the firm in August. Vandever was head of financial institutions at Goldman, where he completed over 100 transactions.

The move comes after Barclays announced plans to lay off thousands of workers globally. As a part of that announcement the bank has said it would focus on returns and an investment banking model that was "origination-led," in which financial advisory is a priority for the firm going forward.

(Reporting by Mike Stone; Editing by Leslie Adler)

By Mike Stone

Stocks treated in this article : Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Barclays PLC