More Wall St Layoffs

Credit Suisse Cutting 500 Jobs as Client Demand Wanes (Update1) By Christine Harper April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, is cutting 500 jobs in its investment banking and administrative support divisions as demand for the firm's services declines. The cuts bring to 1,320 the total number of jobs eliminated by the Zurich-based bank since the collapse of... [more]

Credit Suisse Cutting 500 Jobs as Client Demand Wanes (Update1) By Christine Harper April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, is cutting 500 jobs in its investment banking and administrative support divisions as demand for the firm's services declines. The cuts bring to 1,320 the total number of jobs eliminated by the Zurich-based bank since the collapse of the subprime mortgage market last year. The bank slashed 500 positions from its investment banking division in January and 320 in September and October. ``Due to market conditions and projected staffing levels required to meet client needs, we are reducing global headcount by approximately 500 across our investment banking division and shared services division,'' said Bruce Corwin, a New York-based spokesman for the bank. Credit Suisse's investment banking division includes sales and trading as well as bankers who advise companies on takeovers or capital-raising. The administrative unit is known internally as ``shared services.'' Global Reductions Banks and brokerage firms around the world have cut about 49,000 jobs in the past 10 months to reduce expenses as revenue from fixed-income and investment banking tumbles. Citigroup Inc., which last week reported a $5.11 billion first-quarter loss, said it plans to eliminate 9,000 jobs. Merrill Lynch & Co., which posted its third straight quarterly loss last week, said it will cut about 3,000 jobs. Credit Suisse said last month that it may post a first- quarter loss when it reports earnings on April 24 because of writedowns on debt securities that were deliberately mispriced by ``a small number'' of traders and because of deteriorating markets in March. The bank is expected to report a net loss of 594 million Swiss francs ($589 million), according to the median estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Credit Suisse had a 2.73 billion franc profit in the year-earlier period. Wall Street firms eliminated about 90,000 jobs in the two years after the Internet bubble burst in 2001, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. The current round may exceed 100,000, according to analysts including Jo Bennett, a partner at executive search firm Battalia Winston International. To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harper in New York at charper@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: April 22, 2008 09:51 EDT [less]