Goldman Sachs is to hire up to 20 bankers for a new investment banking team in Europe to reduce its reliance on its struggling trading divisions and uncover new sources of income.

The US investment bank has transferred senior executives into the new unit — called the cross-market group — and is recruiting in London, Paris and Frankfurt, according to people familiar with the matter. The division is focused on mid-market deals (between $500m-$2bn) and is part of a global strategy at Goldman to add 1,000 more investment banking clients.