The
changes would include cutting as many as 1,200 jobs across the global
investment banking operations of Barclays, with about two-thirds of them
in Asia, a person with knowledge of the plans who was not authorized to
comment publicly and who spoke on condition of anonymity said on
Thursday.
The moves continue a strategy announced less than two years ago by Antony P. Jenkins, the chief executive at the time, who was ousted in July. Mr. Jenkins said in May 2014 that the bank would cut 19,000 jobs
by the end of 2016, including about 7,000 in its investment banking
division. Barclays had about 132,000 employees worldwide at the end of
2014.
As
part of the latest moves, Barclays, which is based in London and also
has major operations in New York, planned to shut its cash equity sales
and trading and convertible bond operations in Asia. Clients in Asia
were notified on Thursday morning about the closing of the cash equities
desk.
The
bank would also close a number of offices around the world, including
in Brazil, Russia, South Korea and Taiwan, according to an internal
memorandum sent to employees on Thursday and seen by The New York Times.
“We
are sharpening our focus on the geographies and products where we have a
clear competitive advantage” in Asia, Thomas King, the head of
Barclays’ investment banking business, said in the memo.
In Asia, Barclays would only maintain offices in China, Hong Kong, India, Japan and Singapore, according to the message.
The
bank would continue to provide debt financing, risk management and
cross-board mergers and acquisitions services in Asia, as well as
certain services to clients with cross-border requirements, particularly
those with connections to the United States and Europe.
The
bank would also cut back on the number of products it offers through
its business in the Americas and is considering getting out of the
precious-metals business.
Mr.
Staley, who joined the bank as its top executive in December, is
expected to update investors on the lender’s strategy when its full-year
results are announced in March.
In
recent years, Barclays has sold or withdrawn from several
underperforming businesses, and it says
it is focusing on what it calls
its core operations.
John McFarlane, who became chairman of Barclays last year, has pledged to accelerate the bank’s overhaul and to curtail activity “which is marginal, or which will not deliver the return on equity we require.”
The bank announced the sale of its retail banking operations in Italy, Portugal and Spain last year.
On Monday, Barclays completed the sale
of a controlling stake in its trust business to an independent investor
group, but it said that it would keep a 19.9 percent stake in the
business for a minimum of three years.
By:
Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, Flagship Records.
For The #FacebookTeam