Barclays
The sale of the Italian retail banking network to CheBanca! forms part of Barclays Non-Core (BNC), a strategy that was set up in May 2014 to reduce assets and businesses that do not form part of Barclays’ future.
In just the past three months Barclays has offloaded its precious metals storage business, sold its Spanish pension assets and liabilities, as well as its insurance business in Italy.
Scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017, the strategy is targetting £20bn ($26.2bn, €23.4bn) in risk weighted assets (RWA) by that time.
Barclays’ residual mortgage portfolio and other Non-Core retail, wealth and corporate loans will remain part of BNC, with the intention to exit or run them down over time. The bank will, however, continue to operate investment banking and corporate banking in Italy.
Jes Staley, Barclays Group chief executive, said: “Accelerating the rundown of BNC is a key part of our strategy to close the gap between the group’s returns and those in our strong core business. Last week we completed the sale of our analytics and index business to Bloomberg, and today’s announcement highlights again how we are on track to reach £20bn RWAs by the end of 2017.”
Deutsche Bank
As part of Deutsche Bank’s Strategy 2020, which will see the bank rationalise its global footprint, it is to sell its Argentinean subsidiary to Banco Comafi.
Subject to regulatory approval, the sale is expected to close in the first half of 2017. Deutsche Bank will continue to serve its clients in Argentina from global and regional hubs.
“The sale of our subsidiary in Argentina is another mark of the progress we have been making towards our Strategy 2020 goal of becoming simpler and more efficient,” said Karl von Rohr, chief administrative officer at Deutsche Bank who is responsible for the rationalisation strategy.
Launched in October 2015, Strategy 2020 also aims to make the bank less risky, better capitalised, and more disciplined.
Around 3,000 jobs will be lost and offices closed in Germany. Outside its home market, Deutsche Bank has already closed about 50 branches, with more than 30 to close this year and next.
The bank is approximately halfway through withdrawing from countries its intends to exit, while accelerating investment in Deutsche Wealth Management in fast-growing markets like Asia.
