Barclays 'set to cut 15% of its Asian investment jobs'

Barclays is set to make a significant reduction to the size of its investment banking operations in Asia, it has emerged.

Two insiders with knowledge of the matter have today (24 January) told Bloomberg that the major British financier is planning to implement a number of redundancies in the region over the coming weeks.

Indeed, the sources indicated that this process is likely to begin this week, as the bank will cut around 70 jobs as it seeks to downsize its staff headcount in this area of its business by 15 per cent.

These plans have been drawn up in response to the fact Barclays is experiencing lower revenues in its traditional banking divisions, although one of the people insisted there are currently no proposals within the lender to fully exit any product areas in Asia.

Earlier this week, new Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins sent a memo to the bank's staff outlining several changes to the company's values and remuneration packages after the global slump.

By Claire Archer