Barclays may cut up to 2,000 investment banking jobs: WSJ

A man passes automated teller machines at a Barclays bank branch in London August 30, 2012.

(Reuters) - Barclays Plc (BARC.L) plans to cut as many as 2,000 jobs in its investment bank as part of a broad restructuring of the company, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the British bank's plans.

The paper said senior Barclays executives are planning to recommend that the bank cut between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs, likely to be concentrated in Asia and continental Europe.

The job cuts are expected to be announced early next year, the paper said, adding that Barclays executives are aiming to protect the bank's strong U.S. and U.K. franchises. (link.reuters.com/vum64t)

Goldman Sachs analysts have suggested that Barclays could cut 15 percent of investment bank staff, or 3,500 of its 23,300 employees, as part of a broader strategic review by Chief Executive Antony Jenkins, who took over in August.

Barclays declined to comment on the details of the plan.

While reforms at Barclays are not expected to be as radical as those of rivals UBS (UBSN.VX) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), who are pulling back sharply, the actions of competitors may sway plans. UBS's pullback, for example, could open gaps that Barclays may want to exploit.

The cutback plans remain in flux, and some senior executives are pushing for a more aggressive purge, the business daily said, citing one person with knowledge of the discussions.

The potential investment-banking cuts are likely to be part of a larger number of job reductions across the entire company, the Wall Street Journal said, as Barclays executives consider areas such as information technology ripe for layoffs.

(Reporting by Brenton Cordeiro in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)