Barclays quits India retail to focus on wealth management and investment banking
British lender exits India consumer lending and scales back retail globally with an aim to streamline operations and focus on strengths. December 09, 2011 | Timothy ShimBarclay’s has just announced that it would be exiting the retail business in India, following closely on the heels of the sale of most of its credit card operations in the country to Standard Chartered India for 1.8 billion rupees ($35 million) for less than half of book value. The freezing of its India retail business comes at a potential cost of $580 million.The scale down in India retail will take place over the next six months to a year and also involve the reduction of its workforce in the country from 850 to 700. So far this year, Barclays has already reduced its client relationship team for commercial banking by a third with an aim to combine its commercial and investment banking units. Earlier in March, Barclays took on a $150 million hit to exit it’s Bank Akita retail business in Indonesia while at the same time scaling back on operations in other countries. Other retail businesses in countries such as Pakistan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates were also scheduled for higher corporate-level activities with a reduction in retail focus. The moves apparently show a clear signal from Barclays that it intends to consolidate and concentrate on its strength in wealth management and investment banking. Also of note is that through the scale backs, Barclays will keep its branch network to satisfy RBI requirements. It is also not alone in scaling down retail business in the country, with The Royal Bank of Scotland awaiting RBI permission since July 2010 to sell its retail business to HSBC. ...Please login to read the complete article. If you already have an account, you can login now or subscribe/register.
Categories: Capital & Strategic Issues, Consumer Credit, India, Indonesia, Retail Banking, Risk and RegulationCapital & Strategic Issues,Consumer Credit,India,Indonesia,retail,Risk and Regulation, Capital & Strategic Issues,Consumer Credit,India,Indonesia,Retail Banking,Risk and Regulation, Barclays, RBI, RBS
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