RBS, Barclays Latest Banks to Announce Job Cuts

Barclays said today that it will cut 422 jobs in its IT and infrastructure support departments. The bank said the move is part of "essential changes" it is making in order to be "as effective and efficient as possible."

The majority of the job cuts will be at U.K.-based offices, the bank said.

Meanwhile, the Royal Bank of Scotland announced today that it plans to reduce its workforce by 3,500 jobs in its investment banking division. The move is part of a restructuring of its wholesale and investment banking businesses, the bank said. The cuts will be phased out over the course of three years.

RBS said the restructuring is due to "a changed market and regulatory environment." The bank will also seek buyers for unprofitable business operations, as it is moving its focus to a smaller number of businesses. The changes will include an exit from the cash equities, corporate brokering, equity capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions businesses.

"Our goal from these changes is to be more focused for customers, more conservatively funded, more efficient and with better, more stable returns for shareholders overall," said RBS Group Chief Executive Stephen Hester in a prepared statement.

Going forward, RBS' wholesale business will focus on "existing strengths" in fixed income, foreign exchange, debt financing, transactions services and risk management solutions, according to Hester.

Since 2009, Edinburgh, U.K.-based RBS has reduced it's balance sheet by 600 billion pounds, the bank said. The British government holds an 82-percent stake in the bank.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio