UBS to cut 90 jobs in Asia private wealth and investment banking next month

UBS Group AG is planning to cut about 90 jobs in Asia private wealth and investment banking in March as China’s stock market rout and a slump in dealmaking have eroded revenue, people familiar with the matter said as quoted by Bloomberg. 

The Zurich-based lender is weighing a plan to cut about 70 jobs at the private bank, while 20 at its global banking division, one of the people said, asking not to be identified due to confidential matter. 

The jobs to be eliminated in the wealth division may include about 25 relationship managers and supporting roles in the investment and solutions teams, mostly in Greater China and Singapore. 

They added that the job cuts aren’t finalized as the bank expects more voluntary departures after bonus payouts. 

The scale of the reduction in private banking is one of the biggest seen in Asia. It comes as wealth from the Greater China region has tumbled amid a property crisis and the faltering economy. 

Global banks have been cutting investment-banking jobs in Asia and are slashing pay as firms seek to cut expenses amid one of the worst deal droughts ever seen.

However, a Hong Kong-based spokesperson refused to comment on the matter. 

The bank plans to start the cuts as early as March after bonus discussions with staff this week. The reductions would include bankers who have joined from Credit Suisse as part of the integration after the takeover by UBS, one of the people said. The wealth management workforce is more than double the size of its nearest rival post-merger. 

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Citigroup Inc. have already made several rounds of job cuts in Asia over the past 18 months, as per Bloomberg reports. 

Asia stock offerings outside Japan plunged 30% last year, compared with a 45% jump in the US, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bank of America Corp. last week cut more than 20 investment banking jobs in Hong Kong.

Outside Asia, UBS cut several senior banker jobs as the financial giant continues to reduce headcount following last year’s takeover of Credit Suisse, according to people with knowledge of the matter. 

UBS’s workforce jumped to about 120,000 when the Credit Suisse deal closed in June, and the bank has said it aims to save around $6 billion in staff costs in the coming years.

(With Bloomberg inputs)