Barclays closes Philippine representative office

MANILA, Philippines - London-based Barclays has closed down its representative office in the Philippines as it continues to exit operations in the Asia Pacific region after being hit hard by the global economic slowdown.

Nestor Espenilla, deputy governor at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), issued Circular Letter 2016 -072, informing all banks and non-bank financial institutions about the cessation of operations of Barclays in the country.

Based on the information on its website, Barclays became the first British bank to establish its presence in the Philippines by opening a representative office in Legaspi Village in 1974.

 Barclays Bank International Ltd. was granted an offshore banking license in 1976 following legislative changes allowing foreign investments. It opened an office in Manila in 1977.

 It is reportedly cutting its workforce to below 100,000 from the current 130,000 over the next two years.

 Early this year, the bank announced it would eliminate 1,200 jobs worldwide and shut securities operations across Asia.

The British bank is also exiting operations in Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia.

 Barclays, Britain’s second-biggest lender by assets, has scaled back  its retail and investment banking activities in recent years.