Barclays S'pore to move more staff to CBD

[SINGAPORE] Barclays, the UK's second-largest bank by assets, is moving more employees to an office in Singapore's central business district from the suburbs to cut costs, people familiar with the matter have said.

Barclays will terminate its lease on about 15,500 square feet of office space at a building in Tampines, an eastern suburb, and relocate the employees to Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) by July, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the information is private. About 300 people who work in back-office roles will be affected, the person said. Barclays declined to comment in an emailed response.

It follows a similar move by the bank earlier this year when it exited Changi Business Park, another suburban office in the island-state, and relocated about 200 employees to the downtown office. Antony Jenkins, who replaced Robert Diamond as the London-based bank's chief executive officer in 2012, is eliminating 12,000 jobs to curb costs and boost profitability.