Barclays Could Cut Up To 2,000 Investment Banking Jobs - Report

Tom Burroughes

17 December 2012

Barclays could cut up to 2,000 jobs within its investment banking arm, as part of a broader company restructure, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The speculation comes ahead of the bank’s business review, set to take place mid-February next year, when the cuts will be announced.

The alleged cuts, which The Wall Street Journal said are likely to be concentrated in Asia and continental Europe, will take a small chunk out of Barclays’ current investment banking workforce of around 23,000.

When contacted by this publication, Barclays declined to comment.

The business of the UK-listed bank have been under the spotlight after the bank in the summer was hit with fines totalling £290 million ($460 million) for manipulation of the LIBOR inter-bank interest rate market. The scandal led to the resignation of high-profile chief executive Bob Diamond. Last week, Barclays hired former Financial Services Authority CEO Hector Sants to the newly-created role of head of compliance and government and regulatory relations.

Barclays is among a number of banks that are cutting global workforces. Recently, US-listed Citigroup, for example, announced it was cutting more than 11,000 jobs although that bank has pointed out that private banking will not be affected.