Jul 31 - Barclays Statement on the Bank's Future in Gibraltar
Following a lengthy review and weeks of uncertainty for Barclays Bank Gibraltar, a statement released today claims that the branch intends to ‘maintain a presence on the Rock ‘and to continue [their] 125-year association with Gibraltar.
The statement continues, ‘however, in addition to ensuring that we are offering appropriate services and products wherever we do business, we also need to ensure that there is a clear business case for operating in any given market. We believe that in order to continue to serve our customers and clients in Gibraltar, we would need to make a significant investment in our infrastructure, and we do not believe that such an investment would be in the best interests of our wider stakeholders in the context of the broader Barclays strategy.
As part of the review process we have over the last few months diligently pursued every lead possible in order to secure a sale and directly engaged with over 50 prospective interested parties. However, in spite of our best efforts, it has not been possible to secure a buyer who would be able to make the strategic investment necessary to take the business forward.
We will therefore be entering formal consultation with Unite and continue our dialogue with the relevant parties to determine the future shape of the business. We are proposing that our presence will be reduced, and we propose completing the transition to a new structure by the end of 2014. Clients and customers will not see any change to the service we provide in the short term. Throughout this time of change we will continue to endeavour to balance the interests of all our employees, key stakeholders, clients, customers, shareholders and the jurisdiction.
