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The
Swiss bank plans to lose about 300 staff out of an estimated
5,000 currently working in front and back office roles in the
region under ex-Merrill Lynch dealmaker Andrea Orcel.
The move comes after UBS imposed a pay freeze in February across
its investment banking arm as banks in Europe try to cut costs
to improve profitability.
In January, Barclays said it would cut 1,000 investment bank
staff on top of some 7,000 job losses already announced.
Deutsche Bank, UniCredit, Credit Suisse, HSBC and Standard
Chartered also announced job cuts in the second half of 2015.
UBS has reshaped its strategy in the wake of the global
financial crisis, slimming down its investment bank and focusing
more on its wealth management business, which now accounts for
more than half of its operating profit.
Market volatility, however, has shown that few banks are immune
when tumultuous times prompt rich clients to retreat to the
sidelines.
UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said on Wednesday that challenging
conditions had continued into 2016.
"Given the lack of clarity in certain aspects of regulation,
there is also a risk that some costs that we view as temporary
today may not fall away completely," Ermotti told a financial
conference in London.
"Therefore the effects and associated costs of legal entity
regulation, for example, mean that we are considering further
changes in our processes in order to achieve our targets. This
means the overall scope of gross savings has increased relative
to the net target we have communicated."
A spokesman for UBS in London declined to comment.
Globally, UBS investment bank employs 11,794 as of the end of
2014, according to figures on its website.
UBS expects to maintain a significant presence in London, home
to 5,425 of its employees, even if Britain leaves the European
Union, Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti told a German newspaper on
Mar. 8.
UBS is set to publish its annual report for 2015 on Mar 18.
(Editing By Elaine Hardcastle)
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