Credit Suisse is cutting hundreds of traders, but London (may) be spared
The 25 cuts at within Credit Suisse's London-based equities team in April may have just been the tip of the iceberg. The bank is said to be planning hundreds of investment banking redundancies in the very near future.
Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung has said that "several hundred" people working in trading roles at the bank are set to be made redundant. However, most of these cuts will affect the US operation, with Switzerland also feeling its fair share of pain. London, it seems, will be spared.
Credit Suisse declined to comment further on where the cuts might take place, but a bank spokesperson said it's "proactive about monitoring the size of our business relative to client opportunities and market conditions". It's believed that the equities and bond traders will feel the bulk of the cuts.
Credit Suisse, like most other investment banks, saw a fall in equities revenues in the first quarter, but at 10% the decline was more pronounced than most firms. It also continued to increase its US equities headcount throughout the financial crisis, which may explain why there's a need to cut in the wake of falling revenues.
Generally, though, it's been an active recruiter over the last year. It added 800 people to its investment bank over the last year, including 100 in the first quarter of 2011.
There was a particular focus on salespeople for fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC), and the bank indicated a desire to continue recruiting in commodities within emerging markets.
By contrast, it seems to be pulling back from equities. Earlier this month it emerged that top-ranked equity analyst Tony Shiret had been included in the 25 redundancies within its London equities group. BarCap, Nomura and UBS have all trimmed their headcount in this area.
