The job cuts affect about 1.2 per cent of the unit's 16,925 employees and come as UBS's new wealth-management chief in the US, Robert McCann, retools to compete against larger rivals such as Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, it said.

Late last year, McCann brought in a team of former executives from Merrill Lynch, now owned by Bank of America, to restore the fortunes of UBS.

Most of the layoffs were announced in the last two days, with the rest made earlier this month. Jamie Price, who ran the brokerage force before McCann started in October, also recently left. Price was replaced by former Merrill executive Bob Mulholland, the newspaper said.

UBS declined to comment when contacted by WealthBriefing.

McCann has been shaking up the UBS business in North America since joining from Merrill Lynch last October.

With the job cuts, McCann is reorganizing to eliminate positions that worked at cross-purposes or were duplicative, people familiar with the strategy said, according to the WSJ.

Areas affected by the move include product marketing and development.