Deutsche Axe Hit Research

The cull was part of a global redundancy programme which involves over 360 people. Those leaving the bank are thought to include Stuart Bird, head of telecoms, Ingrid Jansen, head of mining and David Turnstall, head of real estate.

Money.telegraph quotes an unnamed banker who said: 'This is a dramatic move for Deutsche. Many of these guys were top rated, and came over when it bought BT Alex Brown. It has shaken a lot of people within the bank.'

Although Deutsche has managed to avoid the large-scale redundancies made by other rival firms, the reduction in headcount in equities is part of its programme to capture cost savings of £1.25m by the year end.