HSBC has actually cut staff in the UAE

Last week we pointed to the fact that HSBC has expanded its Middle East operations fairly significantly in the last year. It did seem too good to be true, considering the 35% slump in regional pre-tax profits, and now it's emerged that the bank is making 90 people in the UAE redundant.

The cuts are relatively minor - the bank employs 4,000 people in the UAE, so it amounts to around 2% of the workforce - and are likely to affect junior and middle management employees in both front and back office roles.

Emirates Business 24/7 contacted Joel M Farnworth, regional head of HR at HSBC bank who confirmed the cuts, pointing to a "challenging" environment for banks in the region.

"There are difficult decisions that have to be made as we adapt to a new environment, and ensure we are positioned for the future. We deeply regret that these have led to a relatively small number of redundancies," he said.

Ominously, the newspaper cites anonymous sources as saying that UAE staff are currently fearing a second wave of redundancies.