Barclays to slash about 1,000 investment bank jobs

Barclays will cut about 1,000 jobs in investment banking worldwide and close its cash equities business in Asia as new Chief Executive Jes Staley wields the axe in a bid to reduce costs and boost returns.

The harsher-than-expected cuts are among the most sweeping by an investment bank in recent years and follow similar moves by other European lenders seeking to cut costs in a tough global environment for banks. Barclays will shut its investment banking businesses in countries including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, an internal memo seen by Reuters showed, with those markets to be covered from financial hub cities in their respective regions.