Global banks are in the process of cutting at least 5,000 jobs as profits at lucrative investment banking units come under pressure from volatility in capital markets and fast-rising interest rates.
Rapidly deteriorating economic conditions have also prompted lenders to build rainy-day funds to brace for potential defaults.
BARCLAYS: Barclays cut its workforce in corporate and investment banking by under 3%, a source told Reuters on Nov. 8, weeks after reporting a 45% slump in merger advisory fees.
The British investment bank has performed well in recent quarters, especially in fixed income trading, but a blunder in the United States that saw it sell more securities than permitted has cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties.