UK Business Roundup: Barclays Cuts 5,000 Jobs, Meta Shields Zuckerberg From Wealth Tax, and City Accountability Rules Set to Be Relaxed

Oct 23 – A wave of significant business developments swept across the United Kingdom and beyond on Wednesday, touching on banking job losses driven by artificial intelligence, a corporate deal to protect a billionaire chief executive from a proposed wealth tax, and plans to ease post-financial crisis accountability rules for City bosses.

Barclays announced it is cutting 5,000 jobs, representing a 5 percent reduction in its workforce, as the bank increases its reliance on artificial intelligence. According to The Guardian, 1,000 of those cuts have already been made, with a further 4,000 expected before year end. The bank's chief executive described AI as the "icing on the cake" driving the reductions, even as Barclays reported a jump in profits ahead of a looming bank tax.

Meta struck a deal with chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to shield him from a proposed California wealth tax targeting billionaires, according to both The Guardian and BBC News. The social media company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp said the arrangement would keep Zuckerberg living in California, where Meta's headquarters are located. Zuckerberg had previously indicated he would leave the state if the one-off billionaire tax came into force. The tax has not yet been enacted.

In a move that has drawn scrutiny from consumer advocates, the UK's two top financial regulators, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority, announced plans to water down rules introduced after the 2008 financial crisis that were designed to hold City bosses accountable for wrongdoing, The Guardian reported. The regulators said the changes, which include reduced reporting requirements for lower-level misconduct and freeing 140,000 managers from additional checks, would remove what they called "unnecessary burdens" and save businesses approximately two billion pounds over ten years.

On the high street, Sainsbury's chief executive Simon Roberts warned of a "pretty challenging" market in the run-up to Christmas, saying households are "finding it tough" and food producers face rising costs, according to The Guardian. Roberts called on the government not to "further aggravate" pressure on businesses in the upcoming budget by raising business rates or employers' national insurance contributions. Separately, Andy Haldane, a former senior adviser to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, urged that online sales be taxed more heavily than in-store purchases to help level the playing field for struggling high streets, The Guardian reported, as the prime minister and chancellor John Healey prepare for their first budget.

Rounding out the day's developments, UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting opened a tank gun barrel factory in the West Midlands, marking the return of tank barrel production to Britain after a 20-year absence, according to BBC News and The Guardian. Streeting said the UK is "back in the business of making weapons" for its armed forces and warned that Britain must prepare for state-sponsored attacks on everyday infrastructure, including cyber-attacks capable of knocking out payment systems and disrupting supply chains.