Barclays has scrapped its Asian equities business. In an email to its clients, the bank said it is closing cash equity research, sales, and trading as well as convertible bond trading across Asia. The bank also plans to close all of its investment banking operations where it is sub scale across the region including Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia. With the scaling off in Asia, almost 230 employees may lose their jobs. In a memo to the staff, Barclays global CEO Tom King said the bank is sharpening its focus on the geographies and products where they have a clear competitive advance, with a physical presence only in China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and Singapore. In banking, Barclays will maintain a full-client offering in debt financing, risk management, and cross border (mergers and acquisitions). The bank will focus on equity capital markets offering on equity-linked financing, derivatives, and taking the local clients to the international capital markets, particularly the UK and US, Tom King said.
