Barclays Bank Ghana has sought to calm brewing anxiety within key stakeholders of the Bank after Barclays Bank PLC’s announcement of an imminent withdrawal from Africa.
Some customers Pulse Business has spoken to registered uncertainty about their investments with Barclays after the news.
Head of Communications of Barclays Bank, Cyril Nai said it has been “business as usual” for Barclay Bank Ghana, adding that nothing will change in the way the Bank conducts business with clients.
” I can assure you that there have been no panic withdrawals, and things are calm. But that’s because nothing has changed with the bank. People buy and sell shares everyday, it doesn’t mean that all of a sudden everything in the company changes.”
Mr. Nai then explained that Barclays PLC is different from Barclays Africa Group who run the Africa business of Barclays.Our strategy in Africa is the same, it hasn’t changed.
“So by implication, nothing will change because the group that runs Barclays Africa is not getting out. So there is no need to feel worried” he said.
Barclays is facing major changes under the new Chief Executive, Jes Staley.
Tasked with the responsibility of returning the Bank to its past glory, Mr. Staley has sanctioned a new round of cuts revealed in January, with Staley slashing 1,200 positions at its Investment Banking Division, alongside news that he was closing offices across Asia.
Barclays is one of several banks implementing job cuts amid a tough investment.
Barclays is meanwhile said to be more than halfway through a three-year plan to cut 19,000 jobs, including 7,000 in the investment bank, and it still faces potential legal suits.
Last May, Barclays was hit with US$ 2.4-billion fine by US and British regulators for manipulation of foreign exchange trading. Other global banks have been fined over the affair.
Back in 2012, the bank was fined £290 million by British and US regulators for attempted manipulation of Libor and Euribor interbank rates between 2005 and 2009.
Below is a statement released b Barclays Bank Ghana and copied to Pulse Business
Barclays PLC’s Announcement would not impact Barclays Ghana
On Tuesday 01 March, Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays PLC, announced their intention reduce their stake in Barclays Africa Group Limited. The decision has been driven entirely by the regulatory pressures Barclays PLC faces, including the level of capital they are required to hold in respect to their shareholding in Barclays Africa. The decision of Barclays PLC is not a reflection on the strategic direction or performance of Barclays Africa or Ghana.
Indeed the Chief Executive of Barclays PLC, Jes Staley, in his comments, noted the quality of the Barclays Africa franchise (including Ghana), the strength of our management team and colleagues and the success of our strategy to date.
In 2013, Barclays Africa was formed and purchased the majority of Barclays PLC operations in Africa. This marked the first step in the journey to fulfil our ambition to build an African Bank we are all proud of.
Barclays Africa Group Limited is an independent entity listed on the JSE that is well-capitalised with a track record of generating strong returns. It is delivering on its strategy, has a strong and independent board and is a bank regulated by the South African Reserve Bank. It serves more than 12 million customers in 12 countries across Africa including Ghana.
This announcement will not affect the operations of Barclays Bank in Ghana. Barclays Ghana is a profitable business that is well capitalised, highly liquid and customers should not be worried about the safety of their funds. Additionally we are managed by Bank of Ghana who regulates the soundness of our business.
The strategy for Barclays Africa Group in Ghana has not changed and the bank’s operations will continue as usual. The Group continues to see the Barclays Ghana franchise as a sound and solid business unit.
Barclays Bank Ghana has been in this market for almost 100years, offering our customers cutting edge financial solutions and investing in our communities. We are in a strong liquidity position and we will continue to ensure that we deliver excellent service and value to all our stakeholders now and in the future. We have a clear strategy in Ghana and we remain focused on executing this strategy.
Barclays is currently embarking on a new journey of offering unparalled banking experience for customers through our new state of the art branches at Ho, Osu, Knutsford Avenue, Kejetia and the latest at Nester Square, Airport City. These branches have real time technological services, making banking so much more convenient for our customers. Infact, there are more branches in the pipeline for remodelling this year.
We have also introduced BARX – a real time foreign exchange trading platform and Barclays Dot.net for our corporate clients. Again, we recently launched a range of Credits cards, Ignition – a youth account proposition and our flagship Citizenship programme -ReadytoWork- an employability initiative designed to help prepare young people for the world of work. The ReadytoWork programme is very close to our hearts, with very strong commitment from management and employees of the bank, to impact the youth this year and coming years.
Our future as Barclays Ghana is very bright and our ambition to be the market leader remains unchanged. We are in Ghana to stay, so I will like to assure all Ghanaians and especially our cherished customers that nothing has changed in view of the announcement made by Barclays PLC.
