Barclays Axes Wealth Management Services in 130 Countries

Barclays will stop offering wealth management services in around 130 countries by 2016.

The move is part of the bank's efforts to reduce costs, boost profits and to comply with new regulations.

Barclays Wealth employs about 8,000 staff worldwide, but a spokesman for the company stressed that there is unlikely to be a significant change to that number.

Peter Horrell, who was only appointed chief executive officer of Barclays wealth and investment management three days ago, said the employer's decision will reduce complexity in the organisation.

"We are investing in the business in order to reinforce our position as a centre of excellence for high-net worth banking, research and investments and the online execution-only space, which we see as a battleground of the future and where we have significant advantages," he added.

Horrell stressed that the bank would continue to work "ever more closely with its retail, corporate and investment banks".

The news follows the departure of Barclays' former wealth and investment management chief, Andrew Tinney, in January.

A Barclays spokesperson told IBTimes UK that Tinney resigned from the bank on 14 January this year, after making an internal announcement that "he had decided to step down from his role as chief operating officer of Wealth and Investment management to pursue interests outside of Barclays."

Tinney became Barclays Wealth's COO in September 2009, after spending almost six years as the Chief Financial Officer for Deutsche Bank's Asia Pacific region and then later for the UK.

He also has more than 25 years of industry experience, including stints in the UK Financial Services consultancy side, as a partner at Deloitte and Anderson.

While Barclays declined to comment on whether there were any other reasons for Tinney's resignation or whether it was part of a management restructuring move, a spokesperson told IBTimes UK that "Antony Jenkins acknowledged clearly last week in a letter to all 140,000 colleagues in Barclays that transformation of the bank's culture is imperative if Barclays is to achieve its objective of becoming the "go-to" bank, and he laid out a strong plan for effecting that change."