Swiss bank UBS is set to cut thousands more jobs in a fresh global wave of redundancies, banking sources said, after the bank axed 3 percent of its Asia-Pacific workforce on Tuesday. One source said the latest jobs cull could cut up to 15 to 20 percent of an already depleted workforce at UBS, the world's largest wealth manager which has been forced to write down $50 billion of assets in the financial crisis.
A second source said a statement on the cuts could come as early as Wednesday, when UBS holds its annual general meeting. New Chief Executive Oswald Gruebel is expected to give an update on how the bank is dealing with the crisis.
UBS has already announced 11,000 job cuts since the crisis began in mid-2007. Swiss newspapers reported on Sunday that UBS will announce big new job cuts soon and mentioned April 22 as a possible date. UBS declined to comment on job cuts. "We don't do any speculation," spokeswoman Tatiana Togni said.
Gruebel, a former Credit Suisse boss brought out of retirement by UBS in February, has signalled that more job cuts were inevitable. UBS shares were up 15.8 percent at 13.32 Swiss francs by 1451 GMT, outperforming a 6 percent higher DJ Stoxx European banking index that was buoyed by news that Goldman Sachs' first-quarter profit beat forecasts. UBS had around 77,000 employees at the end of 2008 and said in February it wanted to get down to 75,000 employees this year.
A new round of cuts may involve roughly between 15 and 20 percent of this lower figure - or 11,000 to 15,000 jobs - based on the first source's estimate. The source said the troubled Swiss bank would axe jobs at its core wealth management unit and also at its beleaguered investment bank. Cuts will be felt in places such as Switzerland, the United States and London, the source added.
Denise Chervet, general secretary of the Swiss banking personnel association, told newspaper Sonntagzeitung on Sunday that UBS could cut more than 10,000 jobs across all divisions. A UBS spokesman in Hong Kong said on Tuesday the bank will cut 240 Asia-Pacific jobs, all in the wealth management business, representing 8 percent of that segment in Asia.
Banking sources said the cuts included 100 redundancies in Singapore, where UBS is a relatively strong player in private banking. UBS managed about 130 billion Swiss francs ($115 billion) in assets in Asia at the end of last year, according to company data. Despite the job cuts, UBS said it will continue to invest in Asia which remains a "strategic priority".
Many of UBS's competitors such as Citigroup and Credit Suisse have shed staff in Asia in the last few months as clients stay away from weak markets. Societe Generale last month said it will cut around 10 percent of staff from its private banking arm in Asia excluding Japan.