HONG KONG -- Barclays Plc is closing investment banking units in Thailand and across Asia as part of a review of global operations that will see it shed more than 1,000 jobs, internal memos said on Thursday.
Bloomberg News said the UK bank plans to cut about 230 jobs in the Asia-Pacific region, including winding up its cash-equities business there, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the decision isn't public.
In addition to Thailand, it will exit operations in countries including Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia and plans to maintain offices in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore and India, and keep its prime brokerage and derivatives business in Asia, the person said.
Barclays also will cut its onshore-markets coverage in Brazil and cash-equities sales and execution businesses in Central Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
The moves are some of the deepest cuts by any bank in recent times. Reuters reported the bank's retreat from South Korea and Taiwan on Jan 5.
A memo reviewed by Reuters also showed that Barclays is exploring exiting its precious metals business globally.
A Barclays spokesman in Hong Kong declined to comment. The Financial Times reported earlier that the company will cut about 1,000 jobs.
Barclays employees in Tokyo were informed of the cuts by the bank's Japan President Eiji Nakai in an early morning town hall meeting, according to people familiar with the situation. Mr Nakai said the bank will close its cash-equities operation in Japan and focus instead on derivatives, prime brokerage and electronic trading, the people said. About 80 positions in Japan will go, and a similar number in Australia, the people said.
Some 40-50 investment bankers in Asia are losing their jobs as part of the reductions, one of the people said. Among senior bankers leaving are Anoop Chaudhry, the Asia-Pacific head of power and utilities; Jorge Munoz, regional head of equity capital markets; Sander Hamersma, who ran the regional telecom, media and technology group; and Dirk Simmons, Asia-Pacific co- head of industrials, according to people with knowledge of the departures. The bankers, all based in Hong Kong, declined to comment or couldn't be reached.
The bank is closing all its cash-equity research, sales and trading as well as its convertible bond-trading businesses across Asia, according to a memo sent to clients that was seen by Bloomberg. Barclays's equity-research team will stop covering stocks listed in Asia immediately, the memo said.
Barclay's chief Jes Staley is the latest CEO to deepen cuts at its securities units as banks shrink to restore profit growth amid tougher capital rules and a cooling global economy. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said this week he was "effectively done" with about 1,200 job reductions in fixed-income trading after concluding the outlook for the business is poor.
Mr Staley, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co banker who took over last month, is seeking ways to boost earnings growth and restore investor confidence by focusing on the bank's most profitable businesses. He and chairman John McFarlane are scheduled to present a broader strategic update alongside the bank's full- year results on March 1.