eFC Briefing (Updated): Deutsche, UBS, Credit Suisse....
The week saw banks cut staff in mortgage lending and global equity and debt markets, but add in private banking, commodities, venture capital and M&A advisory.
Deutsche Bank plans to add dozens of commodity traders and staff this year, but is slashing as many as 300 jobs in global equity and debt markets. The moves reflect an industry trend to shift resources to activities insulated from the credit meltdown - such as private wealth management, where Deutsche announced nine new hires this month.
The bank's set to boost headcount by 15 to 25 percent in the commodities unit, which currently employs 150 - 250, says Bloomberg News. New slots are planned in Asia for precious metals, in London for steel, in New York for agriculture and globally for oil.
Separately, Deutsche has begun eliminating 250 to 300 jobs in its global markets division, according to Financial News. The reductions involve equity sales and trading, debt capital markets and derivatives, and are said to include several senior New York managers in the credit business. Jobs in London, Europe and Asia also will be affected.
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UBS appears on track for additional layoffs, including shutting down its U.S. proprietary credit trading unit, according to a Jan. 16 internal memo reported by several news organs. The memo from Chief Executive Marcel Rohner detailed a wide-ranging overhaul that includes exiting some business lines, combining others and generally pulling back from unprofitable or high-risk activities. Set to go under the knife are the principal-finance unit in the U.S., some remaining mortgage-backed structurers and traders, and some commodity groups (an arena where other banks are expanding). Headcount for mortgage securitization and trading will drop to 50 percent of its August peak, the memo says, without stating a specific jobs figure. Several credit market businesses will be folded into one. The memo also introduced a real-estate "workout group" that will develop exit strategies from mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations. In commodities, UBS will pull out of certain power and gas markets in Europe and pull back in Canada.
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Lehman Brothers is cutting 1,300 jobs from Aurora Loan Services, more than half of the residential lending unit's current work force of 2,000. While it will continue direct lending, Aurora will cease lending through mortgage brokers and plans to close three regional operations centers.
Separately, Lehman promoted Paul G. Parker from U.S. head of M&A to global co-head of M&A, alongside Mark Shafir, who was given the added title of chairman of global M&A.
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Ramping up in private wealth management, Credit Suisse plans to add 1,000 private bankers around the world by 2010. The plans include expansion in the U.S., Brazil, Western Europe, the UK and Russia, launching on-shore operations in Japan, India and Mexico, and further investments in Singapore and Hong Kong operations hubs.
In an unrelated move, the bank named Manny Santayana head of global sales for its algorithmic trading unit, Advanced Execution Services.
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Bank of America didn't wait for its Jan. 22 fourth-quarter financial release to detail its scaled-back plans for investment banking, including 650 additional layoffs. The bank plans to sell its prime brokerage business, curtail many trading activities and cut back on investment banking in Europe and less-profitable sectors such as defense and heavy industry, Chief Executive Kenneth D. Lewis told reporters. B of A will remain active in sectors where it's thrived, including health care, commercial real estate, restaurants and retailing.
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Carlyle Group hired three executives for its West Coast venture capital business and transferred a fourth from its buyout group. The new hires are Greg Rossmann, coming from Pequot Capital, Nick Sturiale, from Sevin Rosen Funds, and Rachel L. Winokur, from Datascope Corp. Rossmann and Sturiale are managing directors and Winokur is a vice president. In addition, Carlyle said Ryan A. Harris moved from its buyout group to the West Coast to work on health-care deals.
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Moelis & Co., the M&A boutique launched last year by ex-UBS president Ken Moelis, hired Mark Henkels from CIBC to work on deals involving general industrial and mining companies. The company also hired Stephan Oppenheimer as a managing director for a separate Boston-based private equity business, Moelis Capital Partners.
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Restructuring its fixed-income activities, Morgan Stanley reportedly combined interest rates and currencies businesses into a new unit led by Roberto Hoornweg. The bank also folded securitized products into its credit business, Financial News reports. Armins Rusis was promoted to head of credit trading in London, responsible for both the U.S. and the Europe- Middle East-Africa region, and is also global head of mortgage-backed securities trading.
