JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) has decided to cut its investment banking team in Asia-Pacific, mainly in Greater China, according to a recent report by Bloomberg. People familiar with the matter said that the financial giant wants to reduce the current workforce in the division by 30 positions.

JPMorgan Custs Investment Banking Jobs

Although the headcount reduction affects less than 5% of all investment banking employees in the region, it is still one of the biggest in recent years. JPM wants to fight the rising pressures of geopolitical tensions and the changing regulatory environment in China by reducing operational costs.

However, senior employees and those with higher experience do not need to worry about their future in the banking giant. The reduction will reportedly mainly affect junior-level bankers, Bloomberg has revealed.

A Singapore-based spokesperson for JPM commented on the matter, stating that the company is regularly assessing its business model, and the current review may indeed affect "a small number of employees" in the Asia-Pacific region.

As it turns out, JPM is not alone in its recent cost-reducing actions. Other big banking names like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have also cut positions in the APAC region and worldwide due to the slumping revenues of the investment banking industry.

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Goldman and Morgan Stanley Reduces Thousands of Positions

The first information that Goldman Sachs wants to reduce its headcount emerged in December 2022, when the Group's Chief Executive Officer, David Solomon, revealed the plan to cut the company's reliance on volatile investment banking and trading revenues.

The initial reports were confirmed just a few weeks later. The layoff process began a month ago and will ultimately influence 3,200 jobs. More than 30% of the reductions come from core banking and trading units. Additionally, Goldman Sachs is preparing to reduce a significant part of nearly $60 billion in alternative investments, per a Reuters report from January.

On top of that, Morgan Stanley embarked on a fresh round of headcount reductions to cut the global workforce by 1,600 or 2% of the total current employment. At the end of the third quarter, the financial institution had more than 80,000 employees. Employment has grown rapidly since the start of the pandemic, increasing by 20,000 over two years.

Credit Suisse Wants to Lay Off 9,000 Employees

However, one of the most significant cuts in the investment banking division was recently announced by Credit Suisse. The Swiss banking giant may lay off more than 10% of its staff associated with the European investment banking sector, the Financial Times reported in January.

The bank has not officially confirmed the information but indeed faces considerable problems. In the past, the institution admitted that 9,000 people might need to be laid off over the next three years.

Credit Suisse last week reported an annual loss for 2022 of CHF 7.3 billion after losing more than 20% of assets under management. According to CEO Ulrich Körner, such poor performance is "unacceptable."