Paris-listed BNP Paribas, Europe's third- biggest bank, may cut bonuses by more than 70 per cent at its corporate and investment bank after profits fell, according to Bloomberg.

Most employees will have their bonuses reduced, more people than in the past will receive no bonus at all, and even the "best performers may be affected,'' Jacques d'Estais, the Paris- based head of corporate and investment banking, wrote in a 13 November internal memo obtained by the news service.

"I am therefore asking you to start managing your teams' bonus expectations now,'' Mr d'Estais wrote to senior managers, citing a "nearly'' 73 per cent drop in pre-tax profit in the first nine months of 2008. "Our overall bonus pool is therefore likely to show the same YoY decrease.''

BNP operates a wealth management business. The news service’s report did not say whether this part of the French firm’s operations will be affected.

BNP Paribas set aside €577 million ($723 million) in the third quarter related to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, once the biggest underwriter of mortgage bonds. The French bank's securities unit had revenue "below zero'' for the first time in October because of equity derivatives losses, the company said this month.

BNP Paribas declined to comment on the memo.

Banks and brokerages worldwide have announced $708 billion of write-downs and credit losses since the subprime-mortgage market collapsed last year, and have cut almost 161,000 jobs.