Five Per Cent of Jobs to Go at Credit Suisse Singapore - Report

Nick Parmee

8 December 2008

The Credit Suisse Singapore office is planning to lay off staff, according to The Straits Times. The Asia-Pacific chief executive, Mr Kai Nargolwala, is reported as saying the losses will be “mostly in the mid-single digits”.

With about 5,000 staff, this may mean around 250 workers will be laid off. The Hong Kong branch, which employs about 2,000 people, will also face cuts, the report said. However, the report did not specify whether wealth management positions will be affected by any cuts.

These moves are part of a global restructuring by Credit Suisse. It has announced that it will cut 5,300 jobs, or 11 per cent of its worldwide staff, after losses of about SFr3 billion ($3.8 billion) in the first two months of this quarter. Bonuses will fall or be lost altogether.

Mr Nargolwala told The Straits Times that most job cuts - in Asia and globally - will be in the investment banking business. And he would not rule out further sackings.

“We wouldn't be in a situation where we'll want to give any kind of guarantee around that issue. And this is a fairly large number of cuts, and so we thought carefully about the business environment and what the requirements would be going forward.”