By Anna Brunetti
LONDON, July 29 (IFR) - Barclays has made significant cutsto its European ABS team due to disappointing activity in thatmarket, a source familiar with the matter told IFR on Wednesday.
The move concerns at least four members of the ABS tradingteam and other members of the research and sales team, and comesas the bank said it would speed up cost-cutting plans.
Some of those affected will be moved to other fixed-incomecredit teams, while others have been placed at risk and willmost likely leave the bank, the source said.
"The move has been under consideration for the past year andreflects the lack of issuance and trading activity in the ABSmarket, and therefore the lack of business opportunities," thesource said.
"Unlike the US, the European market never really recoveredpost-crisis, and despite everyone expecting it to berevitalised, it's undergoing structural changes that the groupdoesn't see as immediately positive."
The action comes at a time when European regulators andcentral bankers are doubling their efforts to revive the ABSsector.
Around 80bn of ABS bonds was placed last year, according toIFR data. Some analysts had expected 100bn or more of issuancein 2015, but at the current run rate it will likely fall shortof that.
At its peak, the ABS market saw volumes of US$1.2trn in2008, according to research group Bruegel.
Barclays will now focus its efforts on the booming USsecuritisation business, the source said.
Barclays currently ranks fourth in the Thomson Reuters USABS league tables with a 9.1% market share for this year. (Reporting by Anna Brunetti; Editing by Natalie Harrison andMarc Carnegie)
Barclays (BARC)