Swiss Bank UBS Cutting 2,000 Jobs
Swiss bank UBS has said it will cut 2,000 investment banking jobs and will reorganise the unit after being hard hit by sub-prime losses.
UBS said this will help it focus on its strengths and cut costs at a time when its revenue outlook is uncertain.
A day earlier the bank said it expected a profit for the third quarter despite recent market volatility.
The firm has been one of the European finance houses to be hardest hit by the problems in the US housing market.
The Swiss banking giant has seen write-downs of more than $42.5bn (£23.9bn)following the sub-prime crisis.
The 2,000 job cuts in investment banking, will bring staff to around 17,000 by the end of the year, representing a cut of some 6,000 “since the peak in third quarter 2007″, a UBS statement said.
The move would enable the bank to cut costs to a “more sustainable level” as well as “position our core businesses for growth once fundamentals improve,” said Jerker Johansson, chief executive of the firm’s investment bank.
Its investment unit will also stop dealing in commodities except for precious metals.
The reorganisation has stemmed from “the ongoing crisis in the financial markets and dramatically changed industry dynamics”, it said.
Source: BBC.
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