UBS to cut 2,000 jobs

UBS, the embattled Swiss banking giant, today announced it will slash over 2,000 jobs in its investment banking division, following a hefty loss of $6.9 billion in fourth quarter, but India is unlikely to be severely affected by the proposed downsizing at its securities unit.

Battered with continued losses — estimated at $23.12 billion during last year — and sustained withdrawal of funds from its wealth management to the tune of over $100 billion during last quarter, UBS embarked on a restructuring of its various operations, especially in the Investment Banking (IB) division.

“Most of the job losses in the IB division will be in the US, Europe and to some extent in Switzerland and Asia,” Rebeca Garcia, a UBS official in Zurich, told Business Standard, suggesting it is difficult to say whether India will be impacted at all.

Earlier, UBS had announced 9,000 job cuts after it sharply reduced its exposure to debt trading and commodities businesses.

The bank raised about $32 billion last year from investors in Singapore and West Asia to offset huge losses its had suffered because of the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Despite mounting losses over the past two years, UBS is slowly experiencing early pangs of a turnaround in its overall financial situation with likely profits this year. It has an “encouraging” start to the new year and net new money was positive in January in the two troubled areas of wealth management and asset management businesses.