Barclays to Cut 19,000 Jobs in Restructuring Strategy

Barclays bank of UK will axe about 7,000 positions by the end of 2016 as it implements a new strategy.

The investment bank has suffered reduced demand for corporate and government debt.

The financial institution will also establish a “bad bank” that’s expected in the end to sell or run down 115 billion pounds worth of non-key operations, BBC reports.

The portfolio will include 90 billion pounds of investment bank assets and all its retail banking operations in Europe that account for 26 billion pound worth of assets.

Markets in France, Spain, Portugal and Italy will see retail banking moved to non-key businesses.

Since the global credit crunch, several firms have used “bad banks” as a way to segregate risky loans and assets.

“This is a bold simplification of Barclays. We will be a focused international bank, operating only in areas where we have capability, scale and competitive advantage,” said chief executive Antony Jenkins.

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Reports from the BBC indicated that Barclays intended to close about 400 branches over the next few years, but it wasn’t about to make an announcement soon.

However, Barclays did not mention any retail bank branch shutdown in its Thursday statement.

Barclay’s retail banking unit has a workforce of 32,900 people in the UK and about 5,900 in Europe.

Most of the job cuts will take place this year, with 14,000 persons losing positions in the company within 2014.

According to Reuters, Barclays’ stocks were top climbers in Britain’s FTSE 100 index and a measure of European banking stocks SX7P, adding 7% to near a high recorded three months ago of 261.20 pence as investors contemplated the bank’s promise to bolster shareholder returns with its leaner business.

But not all investors were happy with the developments, with some describing the investment bank as “work in progress”. Others expect a drop in revenue in several of the group’s business arms.

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To contact the reporter of this story; Yashu Gola at yashu@forexminute.com