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The lender has already shifted 2 000 positions from 2011 to the end of 2012, Bommensath said in a presentation to analysts and investors last week. The jobs include administration and the management of the firm’s computers and data. Bommensath didn’t provide further details about where the jobs will move to.
“Bringing us more in line with our peers, we will have a greater outsourced and offshore presence,” said Bommensath, who became head of the division with Tom King (52) in May after Rich Ricci stepped down.
“Fewer people in high-cost locations will also help us to rationalise excess office capacity, bringing further savings.”
Chairman David Walker and CEO Antony Jenkins (51), who took over after the lender was fined £290 million in June 2012 for rigging the London interbank offered rate, are trying to cut costs by removing layers of management to improve returns. Britain’s third-largest bank by market value booked a £514 million charge under its Transform programme in April after closing branches in Europe and cutting investment banking positions in the region and in Asia.
Separately, Jenkins said they bank may have to cut lending if the Prudential Regulation Authority forces it to speed up its plans to meet a leverage ratio target of 3 percent by 2015.
“An aggressive acceleration request from the PRA would require additional actions which could restrict our ability to extend balance sheet availability to customers including potentially lending to the UK and other economies which is something we want to avoid,” Jenkins said.
The bank will reach agreement with the PRA, the Bank of England’s new banking supervisor, in the next four weeks and tell investors more when their plan has been decided, he said.
The PRA on June 20 told British banks they must raise £13,4 billion in capital to withstand possible losses on loans, fines and other risks.
Barclays was told to raise an additional £1,7 billion in fresh capital and then to increase its leverage ratio from what will be 2,5 percent to 3 percent.
The bank is “well capitalised”, Jenkins said. — Bloomberg
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