Barclays has signalled ambitions to push into mergers and acquisitions by poaching five senior investment bankers from ABN Amro, seven months after the UK lender lost out to Royal Bank of Scotland in a battle for the Dutch bank.

The bankers are joining Barclays' investment banking division, Barclays Capital, where they will form a dedicated advisory team specialising in M&A. The unit is looking to hire as many as 40 bankers, Barclays said.