LONDON: Scandal-hit Barclays said on Thursday it will shrink its investment bank unit as part of plans to axe a larger-than-expected 14,000 jobs across the entire group this year.
Barclays will cut one-tenth of its global workforce in 2014 and remove 7,000 staff from the investment bank unit over the next two years, reducing the headcount there by more than a quarter, the bank said in a statement.
It will also create a “bad” bank housing assets with a combined value of £115 billion ($195bn) that would be sold or simply allowed to run down.
As part of this strategy, Barclays will incur £800 million of extra costs, exit its European retail banking business and place a large focus on its Africa-wide and credit card businesses.
Chief executive Antony Jenkins has been on a mission to reduce the influence played by Barclays’ investment bank unit over the entire group since replacing Bob Diamond -- the much-maligned former CEO who was forced to resigned following the 2012 Libor rate-fixing scandal.
“This is a bold simplification of Barclays,” Jenkins said in Thursday’s statement.
“We will be a focused international bank, operating only in areas where we have capability, scale and competitive advantage. “Jenkins, the former retail head of Barclays, said the bank would become “leaner, stronger, much better balanced and well positioned to deliver lower volatility, higher returns, and growth”.
Barclays employs about 139,000 staff worldwide, while the investment banking unit has roughly 26,000 employees.
The bank will meanwhile create Barclays Non-Core -- a unit grouping “assets which do not fit the strategic objectives” of the group, the statement said. “Barclays will look to exit or run down these assets over time,” it added.
The majority of these so-called risk-weighted assets (RWAs), or about £90bn worth, are currently under the control of the investment bank unit. Barclays will rid itself also of £16bn worth of Europe retail RWAs and £9bn of other risk-weighted assets.
The bank expects to incur costs on top of the £2.7bn restructuring amount it had announced 15 months ago.
Barclays’ share price was up 3.65 per cent to 252.18 pence following the announcements in early trading on London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index, which was showing a gain of 0.19pc.