As of yesterday, any Credit Suisse fixed income professionals who thought their jobs were safe because they avoided last year’s cuts look sadly deluded.
Credit Suisse was one of the banks guilty of making non-festive layoffs in the immediate run up to Christmas. The Swiss bank cut 40 people in London during November and December, many of them in emerging markets and rates. The cuts appear to have been part of a well-publicized move to cut 65 jobs in fixed income following Credit Suisse’s third quarter results. Unfortunately, more cuts now look likely.
Yesterday, Credit Suisse revealed plans to cut more deeply than previously intended. Layoffs were not mentioned specifically, but the Swiss bank said it plans to cut risk weighted assets in its ‘non-strategic units’ by 58% before the end of 2015, instead of the 41% previously cited. It wants to reduce leverage in the same units by 76% instead of the 52% previously intended. Within investment banking, Credit Suisse said rates trading forms the core of the non-strategic unit which also includes ‘legacy fixed income’ businesses and some private banking and asset management positions.
Separately, any London bankers who were hoping for higher cash payments to compensate for the European Union’s bonus cap, seem destined to be disappointed. Yesterday, Sky News reported that HSBC won’t be offering cash allowances to bankers affected by the cap. Instead, it will be paying them additional shares on a quarterly basis which will vest over five years. Barclays is said to be planning something similar. It seems the bonus cap won’t do much to improve bankers’ liquidity after all.
Meanwhile:
If Switzerland introduces more onerous leverage requirements, UBS and Credit Suisse say they will cut their investment banks back even further. (Financial Times)
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has completely closed its European power and gas trading operation. A ‘low double digit’ number of staff are affected. (Reuters)
Chris Carpmael, a capital goods analyst and ex-Arctic warfare specialist who was also CFO of Credit Suisse in the UK, has left the bank. (Financial News)
Goldman Sachs appears to decide that having co-heads of its fractious tech team doesn’t really work. (Financial Times)
Commerzbank will have to pay $7.5 m in bonuses to ex-Dresdner bankers in Singapore. (Bloomberg)
SocGen analysts say: sell Goldman and Deutsche, buy UBS as a foil against FICC weakness. (Bloomberg)
Money that comes from the work we do makes that money more important to us. “The money in that case is a signal of competence and worth, and that makes it addictive, because the more you have, the more you want.” (Quartz)
Danger of investment bankers meeting outside work. (The iBanker)
How the US polar vortex brings mild weather to the UK. (Met Office)