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Barclays to cut 12,000 jobs in 2014

LONDON, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- British banking giant Barclays said Tuesday it would reduce its staff by 12,000 in 2014, a downsizing of about 9 percent of its workforce of 139,600.

The Wall Street Journal reported Barclays reported a rare loss from from its investment bank.

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The investment banking division reported a loss of $541 million in the quarter. Overall, Barclays reported a net loss of $1.05 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to a loss of $968.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Most of the job cuts, about 7,000 of the 12,000, will be in Britain. Among the job losses, Chief Executive Officer Antony Jenkins said 220 managing directors will lose their positions.

Roger Barker, director of corporate governance at the Institution of Directors, sharply criticized the bank for increasing bonus pay in 2013 despite the poor performance.

"It cannot be right in any business for the executive bonus pool to be nearly three times bigger than the total dividend pay out to the company's owners," Barker said.

"In 2013, the bank paid out $412.7 million in dividends compared to a staff bonus pool of $3.9 billion, The question must be asked: 'For whom is this institution being run?'" Barker said.

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The CEO defended the decision to raise the bonus pool.

The increase "is entirely appropriate for the long-term interests of our shareholders and I believe it to be consistent with our values to make sure Barclays is a sustainable enterprise," Jenkins said.

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