Barclays PLC might cut an additional 20 percent of investment bank staff, with most of the losses in Asia and the global cash equities business, according to people with knowledge of the decision.
The Asia securities division, with operations in markets including Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, is not considered competitive and profitable enough, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the strategy is private.
The cuts, which are to come after an existing plan to eliminate 7,000 jobs at the investment bank through next year, could be announced early in the year, they said.
A spokeswoman at Barclays said the bank is “constantly monitoring our opportunities in different geographies and businesses.”
Barclays employed 20,500 people at the securities unit at the end of last year.
Chief executive officer Jes Staley, who took over on Tuesday, has been tasked with improving profitability at the investment bank, which is lagging the lender’s other divisions and has been hurt by rising costs tied to past misconduct and tougher capital requirements. Since joining in April, chairman John McFarlane, 68, has pledged to refocus the business on the UK and US and has said the bank is reviewing the contributions of operations in Asia and the Middle East, because “we don’t like places that don’t make money.”
Barclays does not announce figures for the cash-equity business.
The bank has been cutting costs at its Asia-Pacific operations, where it generated revenue of ￡776 million (US$1.2 billion) last year, about 3 percent of its total, compared with ￡12.4 billion in the UK.
The bank employed 18,200 staff in the region at the end of last year.
Other banks are also shutting businesses to focus on more profitable areas. Morgan Stanley is planning to cut as much as a quarter of its fixed-income staff after years of revenue declines, people with knowledge of the plans said on Tuesday. Standard Chartered PLC, which makes almost all of its profit in Asia, said on Nov. 3 it would eliminate 15,000 jobs to help save US$2.9 billion by 2018.
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