Barclays is nearing the completion of a raft of job cuts at its investment bank as part of its new chief executive's plan to streamline operations and cut costs, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The scale of cuts is unclear, but analysts expect Chief Executive Antony Jenkins to announce about 2,000 investment bank jobs have gone when he unveils a strategic plan on Feb. 12.
Sources said there have been cuts in front- and back-office functions, and they have included fixed income, commodities, currencies, equities and advisory business areas.
Barclays started the cuts just over two weeks ago, and the process is mostly complete in Asia and the United States, one source said. Staff affected in Britain have been told, but consultation periods for the UK and Europe have prolonged the process.
Barclays staff are due to be told their 2012 bonus awards on Friday. Overall pay for its investment bankers for 2012 is expected to fall by between 10 percent and 20 percent on average, sources have told Reuters.
Barclays plans to cut 275 jobs in three locations in New York, including its office in the former Lehman Brothers headquarters, the British bank said in a filing with the New York State Labor Department.
Wednesday's filing also showed the layoff date would be May 15.
Jenkins, who took over in August after having run Barclays' retail operations, is revamping the bank following the departure of Bob Diamond when the bank was fined for rigging Libor interest rates.
Barclays had 23,300 investment bank staff at the end of June. Analysts say 5 to 10 percent of staff could go, although some suggest a bigger cull of 15 percent, or more than 3,000 jobs, could be seen.
Investment banks around the world are taking a harder line on pay and axing jobs to cope with a regulatory crackdown after the financial crisis. Tighter regulations have made them less profitable than in the past, and thousands of cuts have been made at rivals including UBS, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland.