Funny that - now Credit Suisse is cutting staff too
After yesterday's BarCap redundancy excitement, 'quelle surprise' - it transpires Credit Suisse is trimming staff too.
Bloomberg reports that the Swiss bank is removing 75 jobs from its UK investment banking unit in a move that will impact front office roles and 'support functions.' It's also rumoured to have removed 15 commodities staff.
As we have plentifully pointed out Credit Suisse appears most guilty of over-hiring: year-on-year, it increased headcount in its investment bank by 1,800 in the first half, and was rewarded with a 25% reduction in revenues. The cost income ratio in the investment bank currently stands at....80.5%.
Needless to say, headcount evisceration is inevitable elsewhere too. We are particularly predicting it at Nomura (big increase in headcount, big reduction in revenues), and BofA Merrill (added at least 200 markets staff across EMEA this year, but 'clean' FICC revenues fell 58% according to analysts at Nomura.)
In the meantime, there are two notable things about the current crop of redundancies.
1) It's still summer
Usually, banks don't make redundancies in the summer months, preferring to wait until bonuses loom in the fourth quarter. This year, cuts are starting early. This can almost certainly be attributed to higher salaries.
2) They'll get worse
As we have remarked previously, there are quite a few senior people set to join in September/October. Expect big cuts once they've settled in a bit.
