Foreign news: Barclays to pull back from Asia, FSB asset management study continues

British bank Barclays lacks scale in Asia, the Middle East and Africa and will "pull back" in those markets, the bank's chairman John McFarlane told the Financial Times. The bank will focus on the United States and the United Kingdom. McFarlane, a former chief executive of ANZ, became chairman of Barclays in May and took on an executive role earlier this month after sacking chief executive Anthony Jenkins. He said the bank's Asian operations were "not performing and we don't like things that actually don't make money."
The Financial Stability Board has decided assessment methodologies for non-bank non-insurer global systemically important financial institutions will not be finalised until the current FSB work on financial stability risks from asset management activities is completed. The ongoing work on financial stability risks from asset management activities was set in train via a consultation paper in March by the FSB and the International Organization of Securities Commissions, and focuses on risks associated with market liquidity and asset management activities, as well as potential structural sources of vulnerability associated with asset management activities.