The bank has also sold its retail banking and part of its corporate banking business in Portugal to Bankinter, which said it would pay around €100 million ($112 million) for the units. Meanwhile, Bankinter Vida, a joint venture between Bankinter and Spanish insurer Mapfre, is buying Barclays’ Portuguese insurance business for around €75 million.

Barclays will continue to operate Barclaycard, investment banking and multinational corporate banking in Portugal.

“I am pleased to be announcing further reductions in Barclays non-core through the transactions announced today. We remain on track to rebalance Barclays as part of our strategy to deliver sustainable returns for our shareholders,” said Barclays' chairman, John McFarlane.

The sale is expected to lead to a fall in risk-weighted assets of around £1.7 billion, as well as a loss after tax of around £200 million for the British banking giant, part of which will be booked in the third quarter. Barclays also anticipates a small rise in its common equity tier one ratio as a result of the transaction, which is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2016.