YOKOHAMA, Japan -- Despite cutting a large number of jobs and shutting down several offices across the region, Asia remains a core market for Barclays, its Asia Pacific co-head Jaideep Khanna told the Nikkei Asian Review. 2016 was a year of restructuring in Asia for the U.K.-based bank. It announced in January that it would ax its cash equities business in Asia and slash 1,000 jobs in the region. It also said it would close offices in South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Australia. In November, it sold off its wealth and investment management business in Singapore and Hong Kong to Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.