Barclays has agreed to sell its retail banking arm in the United Arab Emirates to Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB). The latter is paying £107 million ($177m) for the business which has 110,000 customers. Most of those are expatriate workers. Customers who move to ADIB will have to switch to finance schemes that are compliant with Islamic rules, which do not allow interest payments. Barclays says the deal will allow it to focus on its corporate and investment banking operations in the region. In February, Barclays Chief Executive Antony Jenkins announced the result of a strategic review, which looked at the company’s 75 business units. As a result Barclays has been focusing on markets where it believes it has scale and a competitive advantage. In particular, the bank is concentrating its investment on the UK, US and Africa.
