Investment bank Credit Suisse has cut about a third of its staff on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in response to increased use of electronic and algorithmic trading.
According to press reports the bank has laid off seven traders and moved another two other employees elsewhere in the bank, leaving just 20 Credit Suisse staff on the exchange floor.
Increasing use of electronic and program trading and the Nyse's plans to move to a combined floor-based and electronic market have had a negative effect on floor traders.
News of the Credit Suisse job cuts follows reports last week that Nyse specialist Van der Moolen (VDM) is set to lay off half of its US workforce after it adopts a hybrid trading model that combines electronic dealing with floor-based trading.
However Credit Suisse is working to increase its electronic trading capabilities. Earlier this month the Swiss bank acquired a minority stake in Missouri-based Bats Trading which operates that Bats (Better Alternative Trading System) electronic communications network (ECN). Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers have also invested in the company.
Credit Suisse is also one of the five securities firms that are teaming to launch an alternative trading system called LeveL.
The Swiss bank has also invested in the all-electronic National Stock Exchange.