The bank will pay $180m after tax to exit the staff.
Rumours about the US units grew after the bank reported a 20% fall in net profits last year. The equity markets have had a difficult time in recent months and the US, where competition is intense, is thought to be the toughest of them all.
The equity business was purchased for $275m around 12 months ago from ING Barings, who themselves found it hard to make money out of it. The unit is thought to have lost $95m in 2001.
The bank confirmed last year that it was closing down it's Japanese equities business and has sold banking operations in the Philippines, Chile and Venezuela.
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