LONDON Barclays' new chief executive pledged a fresh course for the British lender on Tuesday, axing at least 3,700 jobs and pruning its investment bank as he seeks to rebuild its reputation and boost profitability after a series of scandals. 
 
 In an attempt to distance Britain's third biggest bank from the aggressive, high-risk culture championed by his predecessor, Antony Jenkins said Barclays would put ethics above earnings at the bank, which has become a focus for public anger at the excesses of the financial sector. 
 
 "Barclays is changing. There will be no going back to the old way of doing things. We are changing the way we do business. We are changing the type of business we do," Jenkins said. 
 
 "I understand why there is cynicism and skepticism out there, given the track record of banks in the past. You should judge us by what we deliver in the next one, two, five or 10 years," he said at a news conference. 
 
 Jenkins unveiled his grand plan, dubbed "Project Transform", at London's Royal Horticultural Halls, an Edwardian exhibition space well away from the bank's skyscraper headquarters in Canary Wharf and just a short walk from parliament, where lawmakers have heavily criticized the bank for its misdeeds. 
 
 Keen to show change is afoot, Jenkins cut pay for investment bankers, halted speculative trading in agricultural commodities and closed a profitable tax advisory unit, which one lawmaker said advised clients on "industrial-scale tax avoidance". 
 
 Jenkins, wearing a bright blue tie and sober grey suit, gave a precise presentation but rarely strayed into awkward territory. He declined to answer questions about the future of Rich Ricci, head of the investment bank and one of the last remaining senior executives of the previous era. 
 
 "I can't predict the future," Jenkins said. 
 
 He committed to keeping the investment bank, which contributes more than half of group earnings, and did not go as far as rivals such as UBS or RBS in cutbacks in this area. He said the division was one of "an increasingly small group" of firms winning business and should deliver future returns on equity of 14-15 percent. 
 
 Investors applauded the bank's plans to raise its dividend and cut 1.7 billion pounds ($2.7 billion) in annual costs, including eliminating 1,800 jobs in corporate and investment banking and 1,900 in its European retail and business banking. 
 
 He aims to cut compensation to around 35 percent of earnings, from 38 percent last year and 42 percent in 2011. 
 
 "This statement redresses the balance. It is not just about the (dividend) payout ratio going up, it is also a function of the compensation ratio going down," said Dominic Rossi, chief investment officer for Fidelity Worldwide Investments, one of the bank's 15 biggest investors. 
 
 "That was of course what shareholders had been arguing for ... (The) balance of distribution between staff and shareholders was inappropriate and disproportionate towards employees," Rossi told Reuters. 
 
 Barclays shares surged to close up 8.6 percent at 327.35 pence, their highest level for two years and helping pull the European bank index up 2 percent. The bank's shares are up 75 percent since Jenkins took the helm at the end of August, lifting its value to $62 billion. 
 
 POSITIVE FOR UK BANKS 
 
 Jenkins, 51, has said he expects "Project Transform", his plan to revamp the bank, to take five to 10 years and has told staff they should leave if they do not want to sign up to the new standards. 
 
 He cut the average bonus for investment bankers to 54,100 pounds for last year, down 17 percent on the year. It will pay a total 1.85 billion pounds in bonuses, down 14 percent. 
 
 "We need to give our investors a bigger share of the income we generate," he said. 
 
 But he warned there would be no quick fix and the bank would not deliver his target of a return on equity above 11.5 percent until 2015. 
 
 Jenkins will focus investment in Britain, the United States and Africa, and cut back in continental Europe and Asia. 
 
 Nearly one in three Barclays branches across Italy, Spain, Portugal and France will close, or about 340 branches and sales centers, and remaining retail operations there will focus on affluent customers. 
 
 Jenkins will scale back the investment bank's equities and advisory businesses in continental Europe and Asia. 
 
 He said his "root and branch" review of 75 business units will result in four being closed, covering old assets held in fixed income and European corporate and retail loans. 
 
 A further 17 units, which contribute 2 billion pounds of income, could be sold or will need a significant transition to make the grade, including the tax unit and a raft of European retail operations. 
 
 Another 15 units will need restructuring, while 39 are performing well and will get investment to grow, the bank said. 
 
 Jenkins aims to cut the bank's cost base to 16.8 billion pounds in 2015, excluding one-off costs to achieve that of 2.7 billion over the next three years, and lift its dividend to achieve a 30 percent payout ratio. 
 
 The bank will pay a dividend of 6.5 pence per share for 2012 from 6p in 2011, or a payout ratio of 19 percent, which analysts said was an encouraging signal for it and UK rivals, given that regulators are telling banks to conserve capital. 
 
 Barclays is still recovering from the political furor that followed its $450 million fine for manipulating benchmark interest rates in June. The ensuing storm cost the jobs of its then chief executive, former Wall Street trader Bob Diamond, and chairman Marcus Agius. 
 
 Its bill, meanwhile, to compensate customers for mis-sold products has hit 3.5 billion pounds, and investigations are continuing into whether it correctly disclosed fundraisings from Middle East investors. 
 
 The Financial Services Authority and Serious Fraud Office are probing certain commercial arrangements between Barclays and Qatari investors related to two 2008 fundraisings. 
 
 The bank reported a 2012 pretax profit of 246 million pounds, down from 5.9 billion in 2011 due to the cost of compensating customers and losses on the value of its own debt. 
 
 Its adjusted pretax profit for 2012 was 7.05 billion pounds, up 26 percent on the year and in line with the average forecast by analysts, and the bank said it had a good January. 
 
 Pretax profit at the investment bank rose by 37 percent to 4.1 billion pounds, stronger than expected, with income down 2 percent from the previous quarter but up 13 percent on the year. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Sinead Cruise; Writing by Carmel Crimmins; Editing by Giles Elgood and Will Waterman) ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Antony Jenkins: "This is about running the bank in line with our values" 
 
 Barclays has said it will cut 3,700 jobs following a strategic review, as it aims to reduce costs by £1.7bn. 
 
 Almost half of those job losses will come at its investment bank. 
 
 Barclays also reported a plunge in pre-tax profit to £246m in 2012, from £5.9bn in 2011, after setting aside compensation for mis-sold products and a loss on the value of its own debt. 
 
 Barclays boss Antony Jenkins told the BBC: "It will take years before people change their impression of us." 
 
 He added: "I'm not daunted by that at all." 
 
 Of the job cuts, 1,800 will come from its corporate and investment banking, with the vast majority in Asia, and 1,900 will come from its European retail and business banking. 
 
 Barclays - which currently employs 140,000 staff - said very few of the job losses would be in the UK. 
 
 The bank is seeking to rebuild its reputation after a string of damaging incidents. It was fined £290m last year for attempting to rig the Libor interest rate, and has also been caught up in the industry-wide mis-selling scandals involving payment protection insurance (PPI) and interest rate investment products. 
 
 Compensation 
 
 On an adjusted basis, profits rose by 26% to £7.05bn, in line with analysts' expectations. 
 
 Shares in the bank gained 8.6% to 327p. 
 
 Barclays has been rocked by the Libor and mis-selling scandals and Mr Jenkins, who replaced Bob Diamond as chief executive in August, has pledged to transform the banking group. 
 
 The bank set aside £1.6bn to compensate customers mis-sold PPI and £850m for those mis-sold interest rate hedging products. 
 
 "You should not sell products to customers that are not in their interests," Mr Jenkins told the BBC's Today programme. 
 
 "I've been very clear that we have to run this business in a way that delivers for customers and clients." 
 
 The extra provision from Barclays for PPI, which includes £600m announced by Mr Jenkins earlier this month, takes the combined total for overall PPI compensation for the UK banking industry to £13.6bn. 
 
 Bonus pool 
 
 Barclays also took a loss of £4.6bn after revaluing its own debt. 
 
 The new chief executive looks to have done enough, with analyst opinion remaining positive in tone Keith Bowman, Hargreaves Lansdown 
 
 The bank confirmed that it was closing its Structured Capital Markets business, which helps clients avoid tax. 
 
 It said the 3,700 job cuts, which will take place this year, would result in a restructuring charge of close to £500m in the first quarter of 2013. 
 
 The average bonus it paid last year fell 13% to £13,300, while the average bonus paid to staff at its investment bank fell 17% to £54,100. 
 
 Barclays raised its dividend as a signal of increased confidence to shareholders. The dividend on ordinary shares went up from 6p per share to 6.5p - a rise of 8%. 
 
 But the dividend payout of £733m was still dwarfed by the value of bonuses paid or set aside for staff, mainly in the investment bank. 
 
 The overall bonus pool, though down by 14% from 2011, still amounted to £1.85bn. 
 
 Barclays also revealed that its compensation ratio - staff pay as a proportion of net revenues - had fallen from 42% to 38%. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Chris Skinner, banking analyst: "They're trying to draw a line in the sand" 
 
 It said that while this was progress, it was "not the destination", as it believes a ratio in the mid-30s is a sustainable position in the medium term. 
 
 'Legacy issues' 
 
 Mr Jenkins said in his review that he planned to focus investment in the UK, the US and Africa, while reducing the bank's presence in continental Europe and Asia. 
 
 He also plans to scale back Barclays' investment bank. 
 
 However, in 2012 the investment bank continued to be very profitable for the group, with statutory profits rising 37% to £4.06bn. 
 
 Profits at its UK retail and business banking division dropped 71% to just £292m after PPI and interest rate swap provisions, but rose 4% to £1.47bn on an adjusted basis. 
 
 Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that while Barclays faced "a series of legacy issues" such as Libor, and increased regulatory and capital requirements, things were looking up for the bank. 
 
 "Significant management changes have been implemented, a universal banking business model offers its own diversification attractions, whilst cyclical economic exposure and the lack of government ownership also appeal," he said. 
 
 "For now, despite a 60% plus gain in the share price over the last six months alone, the new chief executive looks to have done enough, with analyst opinion remaining positive in tone." ||||| Article Excerpt 
 
 LONDON—Barclays PLC wants to move on from Robert Diamond. 
 
 In its latest effort to break with the legacy of its former chief executive, the British bank Tuesday presented a three-year strategy that will see the scandal-plagued lender cut 3,700 jobs and rein in some of Mr. Diamond's boldest expansion plans. 
 
 "Barclays is changing…there will be no going back to the old way of doing things," current Chief Executive Antony Jenkins said while standing on a white stage in a hall several miles from the group's London headquarters. "It is time to move on." 
 
 During a carefully choreographed performance, Mr. Jenkins, ...
– Barclays is set to cut some 3,700 jobs amid an operations overhaul, it announced today. Coming out of a strategic review, the company is looking to cut costs by some $2.7 billion, the BBC reports. Nearly half the job cuts will occur at Barclays' investment bank, mostly in Asia. Meanwhile, the firm will concentrate operations in three locations: the US, UK, and Africa, the Wall Street Journal reports. Its European retail banking will begin to focus on wealthy clients. The move comes as the company attempts to clean up its image after the Libor and other scandals. Related charges meant the bank saw a pre-tax profit last year of some $385 million, compared to $9.2 billion the year before, Reuters notes. "We intend to change what Barclays does and how we do it," CEO Anthony Jenkins said in a statement. "It will take years before people change their impression of us," he noted. But "I'm not daunted by that."