UBS to cut 2,000 jobs in investment bank
UBS to cut 2,000 jobs in investment bank
Zurich: Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS on Friday said it would cut 2,000 more jobs as it revamps its investment bank which had been battered by the US subprime crisis.
The latest lay-offs would bring the staff levels in the investment bank unit to approximately 17,000 by the year-end, 6,000 less than the peak level in the third quarter of 2007, the bank said in a statement.
“Reductions will be predominantly targeted to businesses being exited or downsized in order to protect and sustain our core client franchises," it added.
UBS had been forced to write down over $42.5 billion worth of assets and post successive losses when the United States subprime mortgage market soured.
On Thursday, UBS said however that it has turned a corner, with its third quarter expected to yield small profits.
The Swiss bank said its investment unit would cease dealing in commodities as well as “substantially downsize" real estate and securitization trading.
Chairman and chief executive officer of UBS Investment Bank Jerker Johansson explained that the ongoing financial crisis “require us to recalibrate our business.
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