French daily newspaper Les Echos reports that BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole are looking to axe around 1,000 jobs overall in the US, mostly in investment banking.
SocGen is already said to have laid-off 400 of its 2,000 New York-based staff, and BNP Paribas is said to be looking at axing up to 300 in the City.
In the meantime, Dow Jones Newswires reports that Spain's Banco Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) is said to have laid-off around a third (29 staff) of its global markets employees in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan offices in December. The cull is said to be part of a 4% reduction in the unit's workforce. 150 employees in all are likely to lose their jobs.
And The Wall Street Journal is reporting that investment bankers in Asia are preparing for the possibility of additional job losses in the region, as firms get to grips with their 2012 budgets.
The newspaper says that firms like Bank of America, Goldman and Nomura are all thought to have laid-off small numbers of staff in the region, but some firms (like Morgan Stanley) are now believed to be rethinking their expansion plans in the light of current market conditions, and additional cutbacks are now almost a certainly.
Finally, Bloomberg reports that WJB Capital, a Wall Street firm with over 100 staff, has made the 'very painful decision' to close its broker-dealer operations. The firm is said to still be exploring 'other possibilities' for the rest of the business.
50 Shades of Embarrassing
A Price To Pay - The Inside Story Of The NatWest Three
