Barclays Plc is joining banks from JP Morgan Chase & Co. to Morgan Stanley and is withdrawing from the majority of its global commodities activities as commodity revenues at the ten largest banks fell 18% in 2013. The refocused business will emphasize electronic trading. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI rating of 24 commodities posted its worst year in five in 2013 as corn, Arabica coffee and wheat all fell a minimum of 20%, and commodity-related assets under management shrank by about $100 billion or 25% of the total held at the year’s start. Barclays also halted speculative agricultural trading last year for reputational purposes.
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