Morgan Stanley to Cut 580 Jobs Across New York Offices

Morgan Stanley will cut 580 jobs at four Manhattan offices, the company said in a filing with New York State's Department of Labor on Tuesday.

The filing, known as a "WARN" notice, is required under the state's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Morgan Stanley filed the notice after announcing plans in mid-December to cut 1,600 jobs across all geographic locations and seniority levels.

The cuts in New York will come from the investment bank's offices at 1221 Avenue of Americas, 1 New York Plaza, 1585 Broadway and 750 Seventh Avenue, according to the notice.

Morgan Stanley cited economic reasons for the job cuts, which come amid a sharp decline in investment banking and trading revenue across Wall Street.

Analysts expect Morgan Stanley to report a loss for the fourth quarter, due to a $1.8 billion charge related to a settlement with bond insurer MBIA Inc. They expect the bank to report revenue of $6.48 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, which would represent a decline of 25 percent from the year-ago period.

Morgan Stanley in Baltimore

Morgan Stanley & Co. plans to cut 1,600 jobs in early 2012 but it’s unknown if the impact will reach Baltimore.

The investment bank is not providing a breakdown of where the job losses will occur. The cuts represent around 2 percent of Morgan Stanley’s work force.

“As we conduct our year-end performance management process and evaluate the right size of the franchise for 2012, we anticipate the elimination of approximately 1,600 positions across the firm globally impacting all job levels, to take place early in the first quarter of 2012.” Sandra Hernandez, a company spokeswoman, said in a statement.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) has a major facility at Harbor Point where workers support several of the company’s business units, including wealth management and global investment banking.
Morgan Stanley employed 508 people in Baltimore as of 2010, according to the Baltimore Development Corp.

Citigroup Said to Cut 95 London Jobs in Markets Business

Citigroup Inc. (C), the third-biggest U.S. bank by assets, is cutting about 95 jobs in its markets business in London to reduce costs, two people with knowledge of the plan said.

The cutbacks, part of the 4,500 reductions announced this week, are taking place today in fixed income, currencies, rates and commodities, as well as equities, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. Citigroup officials in London declined to comment.

Financial firms globally have announced more than 200,000 job losses this year, up from about 58,000 last year and 174,000 in 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit is cutting staff as banks prepare for regulations on minimum capital levels and the European sovereign-debt crisis persists, threatening revenue from trading and investment banking.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) CEO Brian T. Moynihan said in September that the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender plans to cut 30,000 jobs in the next few years.

Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) said last month it would eliminate 1,500 jobs after its investment bank posted its first quarterly loss since 2008 in the third quarter. BNP Paribas (BNP) SA, France’s biggest bank, said in the same month that it will trim about 1,400 jobs at its securities unit, with most coming from the lender’s capital markets and structured-finance teams.

Morgan Stanley to cut 1,600 jobs

(Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (MS) will cut 1,600 employees in the first quarter, the bank said on Thursday, as it trims costs in a difficult period for trading and banking revenue.

The job cuts will come across all staff levels and geographic areas, spokesman Mark Lake said, including investment banking, trading and back-office functions.

Morgan Stanley is one of the last big Wall Street banks to announce major job cuts as analysts have begun slashing fourth-quarter earnings estimates.

Other banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM), Bank of America Corp (BAC) and Citigroup Inc (C) have already outlined plans to cut thousands of jobs this year. Morgan Stanley had kept firings limited to several hundred underperforming financial advisers earlier in 2011, but is now extending the cuts to banking and trading.

The cuts represent less than 2 percent of Morgan Stanley's workforce at September 30 and come as the European debt crisis continues to add stress to the markets.

Trading and dealmaking volumes have been hurt by volatile markets. At the same time, the value of securities banks hold for investments, clients or market-making purposes have declined, further hitting revenue and earnings.

Morgan Stanley is likely to report a loss in the fourth quarter, according to analyst reports this week, due to a special $1.2 billion charge the bank announced this week, related to a settlement with the bond insurer MBIA Inc (MBI).

Even excluding that charge, Morgan Stanley will earn just 15 cents per share for the fourth quarter, Atlantic Equities analyst Richard Staite predicted in a report on Thursday. That compares with 41 cents per share in the year-ago period.

Air France to cut 2,000 jobs

PARIS (Reuters) - A recruitment freeze at Franco-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) will lead to 2,000 job cuts in 2012 as the carrier looks to save about 800 million euros ($1.04 billion) annually over the next three years, French economic daily La Tribune reported on Wednesday.

The airline, which is 15.7 percent-owned by the French state and 9.8 percent-owned by employees, spends about a third of its revenue on staff, its biggest expense, compared with about a quarter for Lufthansa (LHAG.DE).

The 2,000 cuts would go alongside more than 4,000 positions that have not been renewed over the last 15 months, the paper said, citing several sources.
It said the hiring freeze plan, which would be across all departments, will be presented to the board of directors on January 11.

Credit Agricole SA To Cut 2,350 Global Jobs

Dow Jones reported that Credit Agricole SA is to cut 2,350 jobs around the world, including 850 positions in France, mainly at its Cacib investment bank, the Force Ouvriere union said. 

At Cacib, 1,750 jobs will be cut globally, including 550 in France. The Bank's consumer credit branch, CACF, will see 600 jobs cut, half in France and half in the rest of the world.

AstraZeneca to cut U.S. sales force 24%

AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) said it would cut its U.S. sales force by about 24% by eliminating about 1,150 leadership and sales-representative positions, as the drug maker expands a years-long effort to pare staff and save costs.

The company said the reduction was additional to its ongoing restructuring program unveiled early last year, when it said it would cut thousands more jobs over coming years because of expectations for sliding profit and revenue-growth challenges. Wednesday's U.S. sales force cuts are also additional to previously announced efficiency plans in the company's U.S. business.

Cargill cuts 2,000 jobs

Cargill has announced that it is to cut up to 2,000 jobs – around 1.5% of its workforce. The Minnesota-based company cited the continuing weak global economy as the reason for its decision.

Over the weekend, Cargill said it would reduce its 138,000 workforce over the next six months. The reduction in force will not be applied evenly across the company, with cuts being greater in Cargill’s poorer-performing businesses.

“As economic conditions change, so must we,” said Mike Fernandez, corporate vice president of Cargill Corporate Affairs. “These are difficult decisions but are necessary to better position the company for continued growth.” The company had previously (quarter ended August 2011) reported earnings down by 66%, noting the impact of economic uncertainty and the volatility of commodity markets.

Of the announcement the Financial Times said, “It is too early to say whether Cargill’s bearishness is justified. But it is worth noting that Cargill is a privately-owned company – still controlled by the MacMillan and Cargill families, descendants of the founders who set up the group in 1865 – so it does not feel obliged to put as brave a face on in a bad economic environment as its publicly-listed rivals.”

Cargill has for some time been publicly voicing its concerns about the worldwide economic situation. Analysts point out that the diverse nature of Cargill’s commodity trading business gives it an unusually acute insight into a variety of world markets – again, reinforcing the credibility of its public pronouncements. Other commodity traders have been more bullish.

Citigroup to eliminate 4,500 jobs, says CEO Pandit

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Citigroup will lay off roughly 4,500 employees over the next few months, CEO Vikram Pandit said Tuesday, as Wall Street continues to bleed jobs amid tough economic times.


Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference in New York on Tuesday afternoon, Pandit said the cuts would come over the next few quarters.

Citi (C) will book a charge of approximately $400 million in the fourth quarter of this year due to severance payments and other expenses associated with the layoffs.

"As part of our ongoing efforts to control expenses, we are making targeted headcount reductions in certain businesses and functions across Citi," said Jon Diat, spokesman for Citi, in an email.
Citi employed 267,000 employees worldwide as of September. The company said in November that it was planning layoffs, which a source said at the time were expected to top out around 3,000.
Wall Street's shrinking job pool

The financial services industry has lost more than 200,000 jobs globally this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bank of America (BAC) alone has announced plans to cut 30,000 employees over the next several years.

Year-end bonuses, meanwhile, will decline between 20% and 30% on Wall Street this year, according to compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates. Overall compensation for finance professionals in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa will drop 27% this year, the lowest levels since 2008, according to the Options Group consulting firm

Société Générale Planning New York Job Cuts

PARIS — Société Générale is planning to eliminate a number of jobs in New York, as the financial crisis and a changing global regulatory environment put pressure on its businesses there, a person with direct knowledge of the bank’s plans said Thursday.

The bank, one of the top lenders in France, is scaling back its aircraft, shipping, real estate and leveraged finance businesses, the person said.

‘‘It’s premature to give more information about the headcount,’’ said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the layoffs had not been finalized.

The headquarters of French bank Societe Generale, the country's second largest, at La Defense in Paris.

Wall Street banks, whose profits have been flagging amid global market turmoil and regulatory uncertainty, have been culling their ranks. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup and others have announced thousands of jobs cuts. Their European counterparts, including UBS and Société Générale, have been making similar reductions.