Banca Commerciale Lugano, the bank recently bought by India-based Hinduja Group, is shedding staff after negotiations with existing employees to relocate to different offices across Switzerland fell through.

Last week, LaRegioneTicino reported that the bank will let go 30 of its 38 staff in a reorganisation.

The bank was unavailable to comment to WealthBriefing at the time of going to press to confirm or elaborate on the numbers of staff affected by the changes. However, a statement on the bank’s website said there will be a newly created branch of the Hinduja Bank (Switzerland) Ltd in Lugano, employing “approximately ten employees of BCL”.

Hinduja Group announced it was buying BCL on 12 February, a move that prevented BCL from being liquidated, it said. Under restructuring negotiations with staff, employees were offered “two social plans” and also given the option to submit applications for jobs in the Hinduja Bank (Switzerland) offices in Geneva, Lucerne and Zurich, where the administrative and support roles of the group are based.

However, the bank said the social plans were rejected by staff and no staff applied to be redeployed.

“The Hinduja Group entered the financial centre of Lugano to develop the business of trade finance and wealth management in a period of deep crisis of the financial sector in Ticino that is leading to the closure of several banks,” the statement from Hinduja said.