Deutsche Bank To Cut 1,000 Jobs

Deutsche Bank is planning to cut 1,000 investment banking jobs in response to tough conditions in capital markets, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Thursday.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the report, which would amount to a shift in policy for Germany’s flagship lender.

In April, Deutsche Bank said it saw no need for job cuts at its investment bank.

The job losses come in addition to a cost-cutting programme announced in October, when Deutsche said headcount would be reduced by around 500 positions in corporate banking and securities by the first quarter in 2012 in view of a “significant and unabated slowdown in client activity.”

Credit Suisse has also announced an aggressive cost-cutting policy.

Overall, Deutsche Bank’s corporate and investment bank employed 14,600 employees at the end of the first quarter.

It is working on a new strategy being planned by new co-chiefs Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen in September.

The outlook for investment banking in the second quarter remains bleak as the euro zone crisis continues to spook investors across the globe.

A J.P. Morgan report on investment banking in late May forecast a slowdown in trading of fixed income currency and commodities of up to 32 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Equities trading was expected to fall 14 percent, and credit trading was seen dropping by 35 percent quarter-on-quarter, the report said.

Reuters