Barclays to cut 1,200 investment banking jobs worldwide

Barclays is to cut about 1,200 jobs, most of them in its investment banking business in Asia.

The bank plans to close investment banking operations in several Asia Pacific countries,

The changes are the first big move by Barclays' new chief executive, James "Jes" Staley, to cut costs.

The move is part of Barclays' strategy to focus more narrowly on geographical areas where it sees the most growth, in particular the US and the UK.

Investment banking operations in Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand will all be closed down, according to the latest decision, although it will offer services from other locations.

It will also cut its operation in Brazil and deal with those clients from New York and London, although banking services will still be provided locally.

Barclays is pulling out of Russia completely and clients there will be handled from London.

The shake-up means Barclays will get out of cash equity sales in some countries in Asia Pacific and elsewhere.

It is also looking at getting out of precious metals trading, in line with a strategic review announced in 2014.

At that time, the bank announced it would shed 19,000 jobs, 7,000 of them in investment banking. That process has now been been completed.

In its statement issued on Thursday, Barclays said it would continue to focus on its two home markets in the UK and US.

It said that in Asia, it would continue to act for clients from offices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and India.

"With these actions, we are accelerating the Investment Bank strategy outlined in 2014, focusing on its core strengths and running the business for returns," said Mr Staley.

"We continue to build on the business's dual home markets in the UK and US and remain committed to a strong presence in Asia and EMEA [Europe, Middle East and Africa], consistent with operating a leading global investment bank within the Barclays group."