Deutsche Bank Said To Cut 85 Equities Jobs In Tokyo, Hong Kong

Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Germany’s biggest lender, is eliminating about 85 jobs at its Japan and Hong Kong equities units as Europe’s widening debt crisis curbs economic growth in Asia.

The bank cut about 15 positions in Tokyo yesterday, and plans to tell 30 employees in equity research, sales and trading today that they will be dismissed, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The Frankfurt-based company trimmed 40 jobs in Hong Kong yesterday, according to another person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Co-Chief Executive Officers Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen are paring costs amid declining investment banking revenue and a slump in Asian equity markets. The lender said on July 31 that it will reduce about 1,900 jobs, mainly outside of Germany, including 1,500 positions in corporate banking and securities and related infrastructure areas.

“The adjustments were part of the global program announced on July 31 and there is no change in our full-service equity offering,” Amy Chang, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank, said by phone today of the local cuts.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has declined more than 8 percent since the end of March. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HSI) has dropped 6.5 percent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average has slid 14 percent.

Global Reductions

Deutsche Bank’s Hong Kong reductions account for about 10 percent of the unit’s workforce, mostly sales and trading positions, said the person. The Financial Times reported on the Hong Kong redundancies earlier today.

Global banks have been reducing equities jobs as trading volumes slump. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Wall Street bank that generated 58 percent of first-half revenue from sales and trading, eliminated 20 to 30 jobs in that division in the U.S., a person briefed on the matter said on Aug. 15.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS), Britain’s biggest state- owned lender, said in March that it will shut its cash equities, equity capital markets and corporate finance units in Korea, as well as cash equities operations in Indonesia and Singapore. About 70 people will be affected.

Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG), Australia’s biggest investment bank, cut about 20 people, or 10 percent of its investment banking workforce in Asia outside of Australia, two people with knowledge of the departures said on Feb. 14.

Bloomberg