17 Dec 2008
Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG, Europe's biggest investment bank by revenue, eliminated at least 60 jobs in Japan, mainly at its Global Markets division, two people familiar with the matter said.Deutsche Securities Inc., which employs about 1,000 in Japan, fired staff in its securitization, credit and trading businesses last week, the people said, declining to be identified as no public announcement has been made.
The bank joins Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG in cutting jobs in Japan, where Deutsche Bank posted record revenue last fiscal year. Credit Suisse is shedding at least 30 jobs in the country and paring back its local asset- backed securities business, people familiar with the matter said yesterday.
"Japan is not excepted from the global slowdown," said Neil Katkov, senior vice president of Celent LLC, a Boston-based financial research firm. "The cutbacks are also an indication of the exceptional pain foreign firms are experiencing in their home countries."
Deutsche Bank may report a fourth-quarter loss on investment writedowns, the Platow Brief newsletter reported this week, citing unidentified workers at the company. The Frankfurt-based bank posted a surprise third-quarter profit on Oct. 30 as new accounting rules eased requirements for marking down investments.
Japan Revenue
The company reported 191 billion yen ($2.1 billion) in revenue in Japan in the year that ended March 31, according to a statement to financial regulators. The company had a 10.2 billion yen local trading loss for the year.
Deutsche Securities' Tokyo-based spokesman Aston Bridgman declined to comment on the job cuts.
Foreign financial firms are restructuring their Japanese operations in a global bear market that has caused more than 238,000 job losses in the industry worldwide. Citigroup, the U.S. bank aiming to cut 52,000 jobs over the next year, said yesterday it will sell its Japanese trust banking unit to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. for about 25 billion yen.
Japanese firms are also cutting jobs at home even as they expand their global business through overseas acquisitions.
Nomura Holdings Inc., which took over Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s operations in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, is eliminating at least 100 jobs in Tokyo, two company officials said Dec. 9, declining to be identified.
Nikko Cordial Securities Inc., the Japanese retail brokerage unit of Citigroup, is shedding about 1,000 workers.
