Deutsche Bank cuts 30% of Russia global markets staff

Dow Jones Newswires and Financial News

Jason Corcoran in Moscow
08 December 2008


Deutsche Bank is cutting 30% of staff from its global markets division in Moscow where it has been the biggest and most successful bulge bracket bank during Russia's capital markets boom.

Up to 30% of its Moscow-based global markets staff are expected to lose their jobs, double the proportion of employees being cut across Deutsche Bank's global markets business as part of a worldwide redundancy programme.

Bankers working in sales, trading and research in Moscow were made redundant last week with more layoffs expected this week, according to two sources inside the bank.

One said: "We have been told 30% has been earmarked across the board." The second said: "Ten of the research guys have gone."

A Deutsche Bank spokesman in Moscow said the job losses represented 2% of its 950 workforce but declined to comment on potential job losses in other areas of the business.

A statement from Deutsche Bank said: "As part of a global restructuring programme in global markets, Deutsche Bank is making investments in several areas for 2009, including commodities, FX and cash equities. Also as part of the programme and based upon projected client activity, it is making redundancies in exotic structured products, credit origination and proprietary trading."

Last week, Deutsche Bank began cutting 900 jobs across its global markets division, representing 15% of the business's staff.

Moscow-based sources at the bank said the job losses last week were confined to the global markets division, which does not encompass capital markets or mergers and acquisitions.

Deutsche Bank has led the way in Moscow's capital markets since it bought a stake in the investment banking boutique United Financial Group in 2004 for $700m. It employs about 950 staff in Moscow.

The bank has consistently been in the top three for Russian debt and equity underwriting and merger and acquisition advisory work and has earned more investment banking fees from the country than any other bank since it defaulted on its domestic debt a decade ago.

More than 1,000 bankers have been cut in recent months by domestically-owned banks Troika Dialog, Renaissance Capital, Alfa-Bank and Uralsib.

Overseas banks have so far been slower to slash after many quit the Russian market following the 1998 financial crisis. UBS said it planned to increase staff. However, Goldman Sachs is cutting its Moscow-based employees by 10%.