Barclays cuts 150 jobs in Mideast as restructures regional corporate bank
By Tom Arnold
DUBAI (Reuters) - Barclays is cutting nearly 150 staff from its corporate banking arm in Dubai as part of a restructuring of the business in the Gulf emirate, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The British bank has been reviewing its business globally after the appointment of Jes Staley as chief executive in December. The bank will cut about 1,000 jobs in investment banking worldwide and close its cash equities business in Asia, Reuters reported on Jan. 21.
The bank will close its office in Emaar Square in the emirate and move some staff to its branch in the Dubai International Financial Centre, the source said.
A spokesman for the bank said it was aligning its Middle East corporate banking business to international locations, such as the United States, as well as to the bank's regional investment bank and wealth and investment management business.
"We are adopting an operating model that better leverages our global capabilities and centres of excellence," the spokesman added.
The source said the bank would continue operating a corporate business in the region, with clients partly serviced from other regions.
The restructuring of Barclays' Middle East corporate banking unit represents the latest dial down of its business in the region. In 2014, the bank agreed to sell its retail banking operations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) for an expected 650 million dirhams ($177 million).
Business in the UAE has become more difficult in the past year as the economy begins to feel the pinch from lower oil prices. Several other banks have shed staff in recent months as smaller companies struggle to repay debt and investment income dries up.
Barclays still has several hundred people employed in Dubai. As well as corporate, it operates within investment banking, wealth management and international banking, said the source familiar with the matter.
The bank retains its wholesale banking licence in the UAE and will also keep its corporate branch in Abu Dhabi.
The job cuts at Barclays were reported earlier on Wednesday by Bloomberg.
(Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Potter)
