Thousands lose jobs in banking industry

HONG KONG – Europe’s biggest bank, HSBC, and Swiss bank Credit Suisse are cutting about 12 000 jobs.

HSBC Plc is close to announcing that it will cut close to 10 000 jobs as a cost-cutting measure, Sky News quoted an insider yesterday.An HSBC spokeswoman in Hong Kong declined to comment.HSBC has about 330 000 employees worldwide, and the report comes after it said in May it was looking for sustainable cost savings of US$2,5 billion to US$3,5 billion in order to reach a cost efficiency ratio target of 48-52 per cent by 2013.It also said that it would be conducting a strategic review of its cards business in the United States, and would limit its retail banking operations to markets where it can achieve profitable scale.It already cut 700 jobs in its UK retail banking arm in June this year out of its staff of 55 000 in the country, one of many banks that have said they will cull jobs to save costs as lenders fight off a limp economic recovery.Swiss bank Credit Suisse is cutting about 2 000 jobs after weak trading activity and the strong Swiss franc hit second-quarter results.Standard Chartered, Llyods Goldman Sachs and UBS are among banks that have announced job cuts in recent months, hit by rising costs and weak revenue growth. – Nampa-Reuters