Swiss bank UBS is axing around 2000 investment banking jobs as part of an overhaul designed to "recalibrate" the business and weather the crisis in the financial markets.
The losses will be across the board but targeted at businesses that are being exited or downsized in a bid to get back on track after write downs of over $40 billion since the credit crisis began.
The bank says it is exiting commodities, apart from precious metals, and "substantially downsizing" real estate and securitisation and proprietary trading. Its foreign exchange, rates and credit businesses will be preserved. The axe will fall across front office sales and trading and back office support functions alike.
The cuts come on top of 4000 job losses since the third quarter of 2007 and will leave the investment bank with around 17,000 staff by the end of the year.
"The ongoing crisis in the financial markets and dramatically changed industry dynamics require us to recalibrate our business, says Jerker Johansson, chairman and CEO, UBS Investment Bank. "While the revenue outlook is uncertain, these measures will allow us to focus on our strengths, reduce the cost base to a more sustainable level and position our core businesses for growth once fundamentals improve."