“The British bank Barclays will announce on Tuesday that it plans to exit large parts of its commodities business, a move that comes as large investment banks have struggled with heightened regulatory scrutiny and falling profits, a person briefed on the bank’s plans said.

“Barclays is among the top five banks in the commodities business that control much of the global market.

“The bank plans to eliminate a number of jobs, adding to the tally of layoffs from a broad restructuring aimed at putting it back to solid footing.

“Antony P. Jenkins, the chief executive, has said that Barclays will get out of businesses that do not generate returns greater than the bank’s cost of capital. The investment bank, which includes the commodities business, fell short of this goal last year, reporting a return on equity of 8.2 percent.

“The bank will either shut down or sell much of its metals, energy and agricultural commodities business, said the person with knowledge of the plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was not yet public. Precious metals trading will be folded into foreign exchange trading, the person said.”

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