Barclays is to shed its entire European retail bank and cut 19,000 jobs by 2016, with 14,000 jobs to go this year.

Bearing the brunt of the reductions are the investment bank, where 7,000 jobs will be lost, and the lender’s UK outfit, where 10,000 jobs will go by 2016.

CEO Anthony Jenkins said: "This is a bold simplification of Barclays.

"We will be a focused international bank, operating only in areas where we have capability, scale and competitive advantage."

Barclays’ European retail banking operations are based in Spain, Italy, France and Portugal.

Bankinter and Sabadell are the two Spanish banks most likely to consider acquiring Barclays’ Spanish assets, in particular its profitable local wealth management unit.

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It is thought the overhaul will see the bank prioritise Barclays’ retail operations in the UK, its Barclaycard credit card arm and its African business.

The flagging investment banking business, currently employing 26,000 people, was hit by a 28% slump in revenue in the first quarter of 2014.

Barclays has also announced it will create a separate "bad bank" comprising of £115bn ($195bn) worth of non-core assets to be sold off or wound down.

Assets in this "bad bank" include £90bn of investment bank assets and all of its European retail banking operations, £16bn of assets.

Jenkins said: "Regulatory developments and the macro-economic environment are having a significant effect on some parts of our business which we need to address proactively and decisively.

"The future for Barclays will be as a strong, focused, international bank. And the investment bank will continue to be a part of that mix."

Barclays currently operates in 50 nations across the globe and has a workforce of 140,000 employees.

Earlier in February, Barclays announced that it would curtail between 10,000 and 12,000 jobs this year, including 7,000 in the UK, amounting to nearly 9% of its total workforce.

The bank eliminated 7,650 roles in 2013 to reduce its annual expenses by approximately $2.8bn by 2015, as part of its restructuring strategy.

 

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