Barclays offloads Asia asset management unit with $320m sale
Barclays has agreed to sell its wealth and investment management business in Hong Kong and Singapore to Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC).
The move comes as the UK-listed lender continues to pare back its non-core businesses, reduce risk and simplify under new boss Jes Staley.
OCBC's private banking arm Bank of Singapore will pay $320m for the divisions, deepening its presence in Southeast Asia, China and the Middle East.
Staley revealed his restructuring plans for Barclays last month while several European banks are rethinking their Asian strategy due to pressure at home to cut costs.
"The sale of our wealth and investment management business in Singapore and Hong Kong marks further progress in our aggressive pursuit of non-core cost and risk weighted asset reductions," Staley said in a statement on Thursday.
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