City analysts yesterday dubbed the suggested merger between Barclays and Asian-focused bank Standard Charter “far-fetched”, stating that shareholders would be “horrified”.

Barclays chairman John McFarlane has been tentatively exploring the move, as the bank looks to fend off activist investor Ed Bramson who is intending on scrapping the banks investment arm.

However, city analysts have dismissed the idea, with CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson stating that the notion “sounds like dinner table talk”.

I can see the synergies but in terms of capital requirements it’s a tall order, both banks are in the middle of restructuring programmes. There is not much in way of overlap but the extra capital they would have to raise makes any prospective deal difficult,” Hewson added.

A spokesperson for Barclays said: “We don’t comment on speculation.”

A Standard Chartered spokesperson echoed a similar message, stating that: “We are entirely focused on executing our strategy, and do not comment on this type of speculation.”

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