A German bank is cutting jobs on Wall Street. No, it’s not Deutsche Bank: it’s Commerzbank.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Commerzbank is, ‘cutting more than 100 investment banking-related jobs in its New York office.’ The cuts will affect around 100 back office jobs and around 10 front office jobs; in other words they’re mostly support roles.
Is the dismemberment of support staff Brexit-related? Actually, no. In a memo announcing the cuts, Commerz said they’re down to attempts to streamline its business in ‘centers of competence’ globally. One of those centres of competence is clearly Frankfurt. Back in January, long before Brexit became a reality, Commerzbank restructured its London office and moved 70 trading jobs to the German city.
Separately, Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam might be having a hard time implementing his strategy in a difficult market, but he’s smooth enough to handle it. Reuters says Thiam is a superstar: people in the street approach him for autographs; he’s a, ‘natural charmer gifted with a razor-sharp memory,’ who, ‘impresses clients with a rolodex full of political and corporate contacts.’
Meanwhile:
Goldman Sachs cut 30 traders and salespeople across equities and fixed income in New York. (Business Insider)
Goldman Sachs also cut 30 traders and salespeople across equities and fixed income in London. (Bloomberg)
Credit Suisse is struggling to dispose of assets from its investment banking business. (WSJ)
Goldman Sachs says it would appear the M&A deal cycle already peaked. (Bloomberg)
Moelis and Greenhill are both hiring M&A bankers are Brexit. (Financial News)
James Hanbury at Odey Asset Management is said to have made £110m betting against the pound in advance of the referendum. (Euromoney)
Foreign exchange desks could ultimately see pain from Brexit because the prolonged uncertainty about the terms of the UK’s future relationship with clients would result in lower trading activity over the medium term. (Financial Times)
The chairman of HSBC has ruled out moving the bank’s headquarters away from London following the UK’s vote to leave the EU. (Financial Times)
Jes Staley: Barclays is a British bank that will remain anchored in Britain and although Barclays might set up a subsidiary in Europe, it won’t necessarily be at the expense of UK jobs. (BBC)
Nasdaq CEO: “Britain has an opportunity to become a trading magnet for countries in the EU and beyond. An independent U.K. will be free of the fiscal and regulatory costs of the EU and could cut or even eliminate tariffs while developing a new, vastly simplified regulatory approach.” (WSJ)
SocGen: “Whatever will be the outcome of the final negotiations between the EU and the UK, the conviction we have is that London and the City will remain a very strong international financial place.” (Financial Times)
EU regulators have no direct way of stopping consenting adults from clearing euro-based trades in London. (Financial Times)
Whitehall has just 20 trade negotiators to throw into the breach. (Financial Times)
One executive in charge of relocation said the percentage of employees in his firm who might be required to move ranged from 10% to 40%. (New York Times)
“I’m very anglophile and very sad for Britain,” says Valérie Pécresse, president of the greater Paris region, “but I absolutely want as many jobs as possible to move to Paris.” (Economist)
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