BARCLAYS TO AXE 1,200 INVESTMENT BANK JOBS WORLDWIDE

Job cuts form part of strategy unveiled in 2014 to refocus operations on US, UK and serving global clients.

The new Barclays boss, Jes Staley, has kicked off a fresh wave of cuts at the group’s investment banking arm, with plans to axe 1,200 jobs and pull out of several Asian countries.

The UK bank said the majority of the impact will be in the Asia-Pacific region. It plans to pull out of Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, but will offer banking coverage for those countries from other locations.

Barclays’ investment bank will also exit Russia and cover the country from London instead. It is scaling back cash equity sales around the globe, with the planned withdrawal from some central European and Middle Eastern countries as well as in the Asia Pacific zone. The bank’s China business is not affected by the cutbacks.

Barclays will keep offices in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore and India, and hold on to its prime brokerage and derivatives business in Asia.

Staley, a former JPMorgan Chase banker who took the reins at the end of last year, and Barclays chairman John McFarlane will update the City on strategy at the bank’s full-year results on 1 March.

Barclays said the cutbacks form part of the strategy announced in May 2014 to refocus on the UK, the US and serving clients globally. He added that the bank would still have a strong presence in Asia. The bank’s then-boss Antony Jenkins unveiled 19,000 job cuts as it dramatically scaled back its investment bank.

The Guardian