German bank Commerzbank is to cut over 100 investment-banking related jobs in its New York office as part of its efforts to streamline certain operations in order to focus more on investment banking and boost profitability, according to sources.
The planned realignment of our U.S. business will result in respective headcount reductions.
The move by the part state-owned lender reflects cutbacks at other major banks including Deutsche, as tighter banking rules and a sluggish trading environment continue to impact on the industry's profits.
Michael Reuther, head of capital markets at Commerzbank, said, "The planned realignment of our U.S. business will result in respective headcount reductions," in an interview published on the company's intranet, according to Reuters.
Last year, Commerzbank said it would bundle investment banking activities in certain locations it dubbed centers of competence.The current cuts are said to affect about 100 back-office and roughly 10 front-office jobs.
As a result of the cutbacks, Germany's second-largest lender by market capitalisation will outsource the clearing of non-U.S. commercial Payments to U.S. banks and stop its securities lending as well as structured finance business in the U.S.
Mr. Reuther stressed however that "North America is and will remain an important international hub for Commerzbank" with the New York office being critical for services for U.S. corporate and institutional clients. "We will continue to provide products such as U.S. dollar loans and U.S. dollar bonds, foreign exchange and other Risk Management solutions, as well as equity markets access to our clients."
