Latest news: UBS to cut jobs

Swiss bank firm UBS will lose 3,500 members of staff in a bid to save £1.5billion by the end of 2013. 31/08/2011

UBS has announced job losses as it deals with tough trading and regulatory pressures amidst a limp global economy.

The cuts were signalled last month and are less than the 5,000 initially feared, with job losses predominantly coming from its investment bank.

UBS has said that it aims to make the cuts through redundancies and natural attrition. Around 1,600 jobs are due to go at its investment bank and 1,200 at its wealth management arm, with the majority of UK jobs in both of these departments.

The measures announced are designed to improve operating efficiency. UBS will continue to be vigilant in managing its cost base while remaining committed to investing in growth areas.

As UBS loses 5% of its workforce, the bank follows in the footsteps of several others, including: the Royal Bank of Scotland’s 2,000 job cuts; HSBC with 30,000; Barclays losing 3,000 workers and Lloyds Banking Group losing 15,000.