British bank Barclays Plc will shut its cash equities division in India. This is in line with a decision to exit this business across the Asian region. The move is expected to result in around two dozen job cuts.
The cash equities business, which Barclays now exits in India, was the relative newcomer in the bank’s portfolio and was started in 2011. Barclays has also been cutting jobs worldwide, recently announcing 1200 layoffs.
Barclays is not alone in shedding businesses across Asia. Most global banks, particularly European- and UK-based lenders, have been trimming to meet tighter regulations imposed in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, which have also increased the capital requirements for these banks.
In January 2015, Standard Chartered Plc decided to shut most of its equities business in India, exiting the cash equities, equity research and equity capital market businesses.
Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (RBS) is also retreating from the Indian market. It sold its wealth management business to Sanctum Wealth Management, a deal that was approved by the competition regulator last month. RBS is also close to selling its corporate banking portfolio to IDFC Bank Ltd in a deal likely to be valued at Rs.3,000 crore, Economic Times had reported.