The rumour about Macquarie cutting 33% of its investment banking staff in Europe is not true

If you're predisposed to neurosis and pessimism, an article in the Australian today might tip you over the edge.

It claims that Macquarie has reduced the number of people employed at Macquarie Capital from 1,687 to 1,397 in the past year and that its European investment banking numbers are down by one whole third.

This wholesale elimination of employees is presented as a done deal - but if Macquarie has been cutting staff in London, it's been doing so very quietly.

"This is absolutely news to me," says one headhunter with links to the bank. "As far as I'm aware they're still hiring," she adds.

This appears to be confirmed by Macquarie's website, which lists 35 jobs in London, including several analysts and a front office recruiter. We also understand that Macquarie is still in the market for senior M&A bankers in specific areas.

Nevertheless, some redundancies remain a possibility. David Fass, the new CEO of Europe, the Middle East and Africa who joined Macquarie in June is said to have been conducting a review of the European business. In the year to March 2010, Macquarie Bank International - one part of Macquarie's European operations made a loss of 5.6m.

Macquarie declined to comment. One headhunter said Fass is reviewing the fixed income business in particular, but insists that cuts of a third are unlikely even there. "They're more likely to cut 15-20%", he suggests.