Barclays Capital Securities to scale down investment banking business

Barclays Capital Securities is scaling down investment banking business in Korea, 17 years after it opened a Seoul office in 1996, industry insiders said last week.

According to the insiders, Barclays has notified some employees at its Seoul office to leave.

They said the move is part of the company’s downsizing plan to shed 2,000 of its 23,000 investment bank unit employees.

Barclays Capital Securities confirmed to Korea JoongAng Daily that it will keep businesses including derivatives and M&A advisory.

Barclay’s decision to scale down investment banking business has raised concerns that other foreign investment banks may follow suit.
Last year, Goldman Sachs Asset Management decided to leave Korea and HSBC Korea said it will shut down its retail banking business to focus on corporate banking.