2,000-3,000 more jobs may go at UBS

UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, may have to cut another 2,000 to 3,000 jobs as it scales back from capital- intensive businesses, according to Deutsche Bank.

The bank may have to trim as many as 3,000 jobs by the end of 2013, Matt Spick, a Deutsche Bank analyst, wrote in a note to clients. A small fixed-income and debt capital markets business isn’t practical to maintain with minimal capital behind it, he said.

The Zurich-based bank will probably be “back to a pure private client service business plus cash equities plus perhaps some M&A advisory to be a close equivalent to a business like Lazard,” Mr Spick wrote.

A spokesman for UBS in London did not comment.

UBS said in October that it will cut about 10,000 jobs and retreat from capital-intensive trading businesses at the investment bank to boost profitability. Chief executive Sergio Ermotti is overhauling UBS as stricter capital requirements and sluggish client activity hurt profit. UBS will focus more on its wealth-management business.

The firm’s investment bank has suffered lapses that shook UBS. In 2011, a $2.3bn (€1.76bn) loss from unauthorised trading led to the exit of Oswald Gruebel as CEO.

UBS also said last month it must pay about 1.4bn Swiss francs (€1.15bn) to US, UK and Swiss regulators for trying to rig global interest rates, triple the penalties levied against London-based Barclays.