Barclays slashes jobs at investment banking division

Barclays slashes jobs at investment banking division
By Euronews with Reuters
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Barclays will cut about 1,000 jobs in investment banking worldwide as new Chief Executive Jes Staley wields the axe in a bid to reduce costs and boost returns.

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Barclays is reportedly to lay off about 1,000 people from its investment banking division.

The harsher-than-expected cuts are revealed in an internal memo seen by news agencies. Staff sources also confirmed they had been told about the changes.

The British bank will shut its investment banking businesses in countries including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, as well as cut back in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Russia. Those markets will instead be covered from financial hub cities in their respective regions or from London.

Barclays is also exploring the sale of its global precious metals business, the memo said.

These are the latest cutbacks by new Chief Executive Jes Staley to lower costs and boost returns.

The latest cull is in addition to the 19,000 job losses announced in an earlier three-year cost reduction plan.

The cuts are among the most sweeping by an investment bank in recent years and follow similar moves by other European financial institutions in a tough global environment for banks.

Since June, 10 of Europe’s biggest lenders have announced 130,000 positions will go, with chief executives pulling back from businesses where they lack scale to focus on more profitable markets.

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