The axe has dropped on Commerzbank Securities’ New York office, including the firm’s fixed-income business.
The office is being trimmed back from 120 employees to 30 and at least five of the cuts will be made to research. The firm’s New York debt capital markets division will continue to operate, albeit in a reduced capacity, according to a Commerzbank official. The group handles bond underwriting, corporate sales and rates products sales.
Decisions as to who stays and who goes should be finalized this week or next at the latest. The company’s research analysts will be concentrated in London and Frankfurt, where 60 analysts will be left out of 120 globally.
The cuts come after losses of more than $800 million over the past four years. As a result, the firm’s 30-person Tokyo office is being closed, its London office is being cut by 50% to 300, and 30 people at its 425-person strong Frankfurt headquarters will lose their jobs.
Commerzbank officials in New York referred calls to Margarita Thiel, spokeswoman in London. She could not provide more information by press time.
