The Royal Bank of Scotland has initiated a major restructuring exercise in its overseas investment banking operations which might lead to massive layoffs. According to a Reuters report, the move is expected to affect about a quarter of RBS employees in the United St
Citing sources from the bank, the report said that the lender is looking to cut about 90 jobs at its US headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. Before moving ahead with the exercise, the bank will go through consultations with various employee unions and representatives.
According to a source mentioned in the report, the layoffs in the United States, where it employs 400 people, were the first in a broader plan to cut between 20-30% of NatWest Markets’ non-UK workforce, with an undisclosed number of redundancies also being considered across Asia.
The report also mentioned that at least eight bankers based in Singapore were laid off recently by the lender and it is being expected that there will be redundancies in Hong Kong also.
“In line with the multi-year process announced in February, we continue to progress our plan to refocus NatWest Markets on activities which directly support the bank’s core customers and on areas where we will have a more stable and consistent revenue stream,” said a spokeswoman for NatWest Markets.
“These are always difficult decisions, but we intend to make NWM a more sustainable business and will be supporting our colleagues through this process,” she added.
The roles affected include economists, rates traders and credit traders, one of the sources said.
Earlier this month, RBS named Robert Begbie as Chief Executive of NatWest Markets, confirming a role he had held on an interim basis since December. In his role, Begbie faces a tough task to revive RBS’s investment banking operations, where returns and market share have underwhelmed investors, prompting some to call for a cull of the business.
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