Barclays' consumer lending business will be wound down over a 15-month period. Jaime Puebla / The National
Barclays' consumer lending business will be wound down over a 15-month period. Jaime Puebla / The National

Barclays puts UAE retail arm up for sale



Barclays Bank has put its UAE retail banking franchise up for sale, in a move that will impact around 280 full-time staff.

The British bank, which was recapitalised in the depths of the financial crisis by investors from Abu Dhabi and Qatar to avoid nationalisation, has become the third United Kingdom lender to scale back operations in the UAE as it attempts to raise capital.

The bank's consumer lending business will be wound down over a 15-month period, though its wealth management, corporate and investment banking businesses will be unaffected, Barclays said.

"Following a strategic review, Barclays has decided to refocus its efforts in the UAE on its key strengths in corporate and investment banking and wealth and investment management," the bank said.

"Barclays reaffirms its commitment to the UAE and the Mena region."

The bank will retain its two branch licences but with reduced staff, with some 280 employees expected to be impacted by the move alongside vendors and suppliers. Barclays employs around 1,000 full-time staff in the UAE across all its lines of business.

The new chief executive Anthony Jenkins is attempting to cut staff numbers by 3,700 worldwide.

It is the second retreat in the UAE by Barclays after the bank last year withdrew from the panel that sets Emirates Interbank Offered Rates, as part of a global policy after the Libor rate-rigging scandal forced the resignation of Barclays' chairman and chief executive.

Bankers had previously speculated that prospective acquirers would be drawn by Barclays' two branch licences, which the bank says it will retain.

"The Central Bank hasn't been giving out branch licences to foreign banks," said one executive at an international lender last month, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But even absent its two branch licences, Barclays' consumer financing operations would be highly attractive acquisitions.

"It's a bank that has been cleaned up, and they have a good credit card business," the banker said.

Among the financial firms that could bid are First Gulf Bank, which recently expanded its consumer finance business through an acquisition of Dubai First, a card payment company, the banker added.

HSBC, which acquired the Dubai-based branch of Lloyds TSB Middle East last year, could be another potential buyer.

British banks have been forced to abandon their Middle Eastern businesses as a result of dwindling profits from their core European markets and a need to restore capital buffers.

Royal Bank of Scotland sold its retail lending business to Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank in 2010.

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Other ways to buy used products in the UAE

UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.

Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.

Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.

For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.

Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.

At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.

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Young women have more “financial grit”, but fall behind on investing

In an October survey of young adults aged 16 to 25, Charles Schwab found young women are more driven to reach financial independence than young men (67 per cent versus. 58 per cent). They are more likely to take on extra work to make ends meet and see more value than men in creating a plan to achieve their financial goals. Yet, despite all these good ‘first’ measures, they are investing and saving less than young men – falling early into the financial gender gap.

While the women surveyed report spending 36 per cent less than men, they have far less savings than men ($1,267 versus $2,000) – a nearly 60 per cent difference.

In addition, twice as many young men as women say they would invest spare cash, and almost twice as many young men as women report having investment accounts (though most young adults do not invest at all). 

“Despite their good intentions, young women start to fall behind their male counterparts in savings and investing early on in life,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, senior vice president, Charles Schwab. “They start off showing a strong financial planning mindset, but there is still room for further education when it comes to managing their day-to-day finances.”

Ms Schwab-Pomerantz says parents should be conveying the same messages to boys and girls about money, but should tailor those conversations based on the individual and gender.

"Our study shows that while boys are spending more than girls, they also are saving more. Have open and honest conversations with your daughters about the wage and savings gap," she said. "Teach kids about the importance of investing – especially girls, who as we see in this study, aren’t investing as much. Part of being financially prepared is learning to make the most of your money, and that means investing early and consistently."

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The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:

Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.

Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.

Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.

Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.

Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.

Saraya Al Khorasani:  The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.

(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)